


Hot Summer : Finding my true love

by baeconandeggs, mimoz



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Denial, Game Addiction, Happy Ending, M/M, Pining, Romance, alternate universe - best friends, otome games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-07 01:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14660694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimoz/pseuds/mimoz
Summary: Baekhyun has gotten obsessed with a character in an otome game.





	Hot Summer : Finding my true love

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt #:** 845
> 
> **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** Here it is ! Thank you, dear prompter, for submitting this lovely prompt ! Thank you so much to M  & S for helping me, without you I would have never finished, and thank you to the mods for giving me a few more days ! To the readers, please enjoy ! But don't expect too much. When you are done reading, don't forget to look up from whatever screen you have been reading this with. :-)

Anyone who would happen to peek into this dark, screen-filled room would be concerned. On the wall you could detect a shadow, the outline of a hunched body wrapped in blankets;  a figure, seemingly focused on its task.

 

If you listen attentively, besides the munching and clicking sounds, breathing can be heard. He is concentrated on his games and nothing could disturb his peace. His lifestyle is dangerously similar to one of a hikikomori.

 

Baekhyun is currently eating his favorite snacks, chocopies, alone in the dark. Except he isn’t really in the dark as his computers are a source of light.

He hates feeling lonely, yet he lives alone. “It’s more convenient” he would say.

 It’s clearly easier if he wants to continue with his current lifestyle; to gush about his virtual boyfriends and to argue all night with his friends on Prince of Charm, a community with forums and online dating games.

There’s a new BL game gaining popularity within the otaku scene. It hasn’t been released yet, but some people tested it out and apparently, this new game is amazing. With its cliché title, ’Hot summer: finding my true love’, Baekhyun is certain he will enjoy playing it. He should be one of the few chosen to try it out, since he applied as soon as the mods of his forum offered them to try it.

 Games are important to him after all.

  
  


_As he comes back from uni, He receives an e-mail :_

 

_ >>>>>>>> On Sept 3rd, 2017, at 5:43 PM, Oh Sehun <seahoon94@***mail.com> wrote : _

 

_Dear Bobohu18,_

 

_Hi, I’m Sehun, I told you I would contact you this week._

 

_So in case you didn’t already know, we have this new otome game available and we would like you to test it out for us. Yup, you read that right. As a valuable member of the forum, we offer you the opportunity to try the game before EVERYONE ELSE, and give us feedbacks._

 

_« Hot Summer : Finding my true love » is our latest software smartphone app, the rumored one with plenty of adventures and brand new possibilities ! As we know, you are an active member of the Prince of Charms community, commenting frequently on our forums. Hence, we thought, we would give this active member a chance to try it before everyone else. Because, why not ? We will of course require your honest point of view on the game once you’ve « completed it » (depending on which prince you will choose to end up with.)_

_So, are you interested ? I’m sure you are !_

_Reply asap please, my boss Jongdae is pressuring me because he says I’m not doing anything productive. It’s not my fault I don’t have a task. (ಠnಠ’)_

 

_From :_

_Intern of Prince of Charms, Oh Sehun_

_contact me at : seahoon94@***_ [ _mail.com_ ](http://mail.com/)

 

_See More from this conversation >>>>>>>>>>>> _

 

Excited, Baekhyun eagerly answers the e-mail his friend sent him; and a few minutes later, he receives the link to download the game. The day has come when Baekhyun finally has the opportunity to test a new game. Although he is very actively part of this gamers’ forum, and is a golden member as well as part of the mods team, testing out games is actually a big deal, and not everyone gets the chance to do that. He is asked, along three others, to test the game before everyone else.

 

He feels giddy as he clicks on the icon and waits for the features to charge. The music is good, a very good start. He sees the text sliding.

 

“Can a regular boy like me get the man of my dreams?” it reads. Baekhyun has played RP games, dating games and otome games in general for months on end. The intro of this new game is pleasing to the eyes,  he thinks. He likes the cool upbeat music of “Finding my true love” a lot. The opening of the game shows : dazzling characters, with perfect manga-like features. He can’t wait to play it.

 

Since the game hasn’t been released yet, there are no reviews so Baekhyun will make sure to make one as soon as it will be downloadable to the public.

 

Baekhyun can say with confidence that he is a pro at playing otome games. Having played for months, and all kinds of games, he knows how to spot the best ones.

From the graphics, to the music, to the energy it needs to function on his phone — as students hate games that empty their batteries, he knows best how to judge a virtual dating app. He especially likes this new one he downloaded the other day, after he saw an ad on the internet.

He actually got into this world of dating games and romance, thanks to an ad he saw when reading manhwas online a long time ago. Anyway, he likes them because of their realism. Baekhyun really believes dating in real life is exactly like what he sees in those games he plays.

 Plus, having a virtual boyfriend means spending less money : You get to invite them for dinner without spending a penny, and although all his games contain in-app purchases, he rarely pays for extra… Or he does, but that’s only on occasions. The twenty-two years old man eats instant ramyeon all the time anyway, so where would he get that money ? 

Chanyeol motivates himself to do something. Anything, really. But he can’t just watch his best friend carry on like this. He kinda feels upset when Baekhyun plays for too long and ignores him (He doesn't know why he feels his heart clenching painfully in dejection....

He knows him well. They’ve been friends for _years_ — but only best friends recent years, after all. Chanyeol knows his best friend has changed a lot ever since he got into these games. Ever since he got into his new gaming hob, Baekhyun has been a fan. He downloaded and tried almost every single game there is, and consequently, their friendship and daily lives are affected by his lifestyle.

Baekhyun is probably, surely, in Chanyeol’s opinion, addicted to games. He spends way too much time on his computer and phone, according to Chanyeol. He plays and collects dust in his apartment.

Moreover, he is a forum “king”…or really, it’s just a way to say he is someone who spends way too much time on online forums. Baekhyun is a moderator on the Prince of Charms forum and spends four hours every day, if not more,  playing and dating on his phone.

Chanyeol really feels like his best friend spends way too much time online, talking to his fake, unreal boyfriends. He is well aware of his friend’s preferences in game (and in real life), as in their high school years Baekhyun would be called a fudanshi and used to cry about shounen-ai mangas he was reading. Other than that, he is soft hearted and craves romance. He’s your typical guy who has his small group of friends —and he seems perfectly content with that— but he has **no** **experience** in real life relationships.. Yet, he considers himself a love expert, considering the amount of guys he’s dated, … not real guys (of course). He dates… virtually. So if the never ending list of his virtual boyfriends is making him feel like he somewhat has experience he also genuinely believes he has what it takes to be a skilled love adviser. But truth to be told, he knows nothing at all. His knowledge on the subject is limited to mangas, cheesy gay novels and dating games. But it’s okay, if he has no clue what he’s saying, he thinks. If he ever had love problems, he wouldn’t need love advice from anyone !  He started out of curiosity by trying out his cousin’s app and fell into the endless pit of otome games addiction.

 

Truthfully, Chanyeol is worried : when did Baekhyun’s addiction get to this point ?

 

He remembers, when he noticed that Baekhyun started to skip some of his classes in favour of playing games. Although the two men aren’t in the same classes, he noticed that Baekhyun did not complain about school or school work, at all. He always got home early to play his _useless_ otome games, or some RPG game online.

 

Chanyeol lets out a sigh. Since Baekhyun isn’t living with his parents anymore, he settled for only attending some of his classes. Since he chose a simple major that allows him to have lots of free time, he ends up playing for hours, until late in the night.

 

People would refer to Baekhyun as an otaku or even a fudanshi, for those who know his passion for BL games. But to Chanyeol, Baekhyun isn’t just a geeky guy in his early twenties who spends way too much time in front of screens. He’s his best friend, he’s addicted and _he needs help._

 

But Baekhyun doesn't care, and somehow, for awhile, the thought that Baekhyun was just an...otaku convinced Chanyeol that he isn’t addicted, that he is just passionate. But recently, this year, he started to notice things. Compared to their earlier years in university, Baekhyun doesn’t seem to notice that he barely goes out anymore, and when he does, it’s because Chanyeol drags him and begs him to go to parties or to do sports.

 

Chanyeol rolls his eyes just thinking about Baekhyun wasting his youth. About all the time he’s wasting; time he won’t ever get back.

  
For once, he isn’t playing any game. He woke up earlier, so he could be calculating his monthly dues to see if he’s still financially stable. Between ordering food or eating out every day, buying digital coins for his games to get more clothes, or ordering his nintendo games online, Baekhyun realised that he has been tight on money for a few days now. He finishes taking notes on his expenses, lamenting himself for spending so much.

When he first arrived in his little apartment last year, Baekhyun wasn’t in so deep, he surely was not as hooked as he is now. He used to live with his family in another part of the town, but they let him move out. He recalls his apartment chase; visiting dozens of studios and small rooms until he found the one he was looking for : a small yet cosy home with big windows, a big bed and enough space for him to be able to do whatever he wants to do inside. However, as of today his binds always remain closed, his room is filled with electronic equipment, game jackets, posters of anime guys. Baekhyun has been tempted for a while to collect magazines and merch of another otome game he likes.

 

His small apartment stays mostly in the dark and smells musty. If not for his best friend who visits him and opens his window, Baekhyun’s room would always smell bad. Baekhyun takes a breath, and standing up, stretches his back before looking back down to his phone. Without reading, and agreeing to the terms of use, Baekhyun sets a profile and an ID up. He uses bobohu18, like for every other account he owns.

The game introduction, quickly shows snippets of the game’s characters. As long as you choose one character (or make one up), the others will “play” different roles in your love story.

 

Baekhyun watches with awe, the amazing drawings, snippets of long haired guys, perfect hair, rosy backgrounds, _smirking_ men. The presentation is going fast because Baekhyun’s LTE is good, but he knows he will soon know them by heart.

 

That’s the perks of his habit of watching the game opening _every single time_ he plays. He just knows he will memorise it. The intro soon ends, showing the main character (Baekhyun) leaning in, about to kiss … someone you can’t see the face of.

 

When you click on ’START’,  the game menu opens, showing the four handsome main guys. Baekhyun recognizes them as some of the characters from the opening.

 

When he enters the game menu, as he is playing for the first time, there is a presentation of the game’s characters. There are four possible choices, four hot guys. You can choose your own original boyfriend, or use one that’s already been created. You also can manage their personalities in the game parameters, change their names, et cetera— or you can choose an ’default/already made’ boyfriend. Baekhyun takes his time checking them all out. There is the smart guy, Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo is black haired, he’s adjusting his glasses again and his voice seems deep. The characteristics describe him as smart, mature, intelligent and seemingly cold at first (which is challenging, and Baekhyun loves challenging games).

 

He keeps him as an option. He then swipes to the next potential boyfriend; the polite, charming, kind and _rich_ guy, Sehoon. Wearing a black costume, the character is extremely handsome and Baekhyun smiles at the view. He however knows he won’t choose this one, as he already played dozens of RP games with a character like Sehoon already.

 

He swipes to the next, the playful and popular guy, Lay. He recognizes him as the eye-catching one from the game’s opening :  Lay has piercings, nicely drawn bangs, and soft eyes.

 

Overall he is perfect, and Baekhyun knows he’d love to date a guy like Lay in real life (so badly). Such a flower boy. Finally, he swipes to Kai, the long haired one. He really is sexy, muscled, has nice hair and clothes. Kai’s personality is playful and  seems very flirty. He even has a rose held out towards the screen, as if he were offering it to him. Baekhyun laughs.

 

After roaming the game for a few more minutes, Baekhyun already loves the game. For once, the artwork isn’t some slovely, frozen pictures. Moreover, the characters are -as Baekhyun loves them- idealized beings, attractive, kind and polite. Plus, he can create HIS OWN PRINCE CHARMING. How cool is that ? In other games, even if all the characters of the game are interested in you (just like in a cheesy love story), the choices you make during the game determine who you end up with. In “Hot Summer : Finding my true love”, you can end up for sure with the character of your choice. However, the process to finally date him is more difficult than in other games, as Baekhyun saw in the disclaimer of the game, it takes time. Time is all Baekhyun has, though.

 

Either way, Baekhyun continues his discovery of the game. As the content loads, he understand the outlines of “Hot summer : Finding my true love”. It turns out, that the game is actually kind of like a novel; with many different parts. It is set in a modern, royal-like mansion, and the goal of the game is nothing less than find your true love. In other words, it’s a seduction game like every other. _A gardener falling in love for the first time._

Baekhyun hurries, he wants to set up his own character. As if it were meant to be, the main character (him) is similar to himself; he too is a small man who wants to find love. Just like many other games he played before, this one functions with narration and a choice system. Therefore, Baekhyun will basically live a story. A love story.

 

By the time Baekhyun is done reading the rules, he arrives to the settings section. He remarks the neatly drawn categories : ‘Settings, Gauge, Friends, My Room, LB! missions, Shop, My items.’ Just then a good looking butler introduces him to the P. Mansion, explaining how things function, his work, his missions, etcetera. Baekhyun feels giddy and smiles. He wonders, how would it be to become a gardener in a huge mansion, full of handsome, charming men ? He laughs, how he loves the concept !

 

“Please come over here, Bobohu18. I will personally show you the room you will be occupying during your stay.” The in-game butler, Hyungsik, says.

 

He gets showed to his bedroom, which is right across someone else’s.

 

Baekhyun almost completed the prologue, and he will soon have to select his first route, which is “Introduce myself to the people living in the mansion?” and he can choose ‘Yes, let’s find them !’ or ‘I want to take a nap, this can wait.’

 

Interesting. He wonders what would happen if he chose the latter option ?

 

Baekhyun stifles a laugh. If he had a bedroom like the one in his game, he would instantly nap. But, this is a game he wants to complete quickly ! Given the visuals of the characters, he can’t wait to meet them. He selects ‘Yes, let’s find them !’ and his character goes in an adventure.

 

A small face, he recognizes as Kyungsoo’s, informs him that a ‘Skill Mission’ has occurred. It reads : ‘Raise your gardening skills through Lessons and clear the mission ! Let’s try a lesson!’

 

And so, Baekhyun tries gardening. It’s quite easy, really. He waters flower by touching them, and plants the small quantity of seeds he has.

 

He then completes his mission, making him evolve to his first level, and he wins a badge, ‘gardening 1’.

 

Baekhyun then chooses the option to “create” his own prince charming. Before that, Hyungsik brings him into the living room to meet the others.

 

‘Meet the others, Bobohu18!’

 

‘Welcome Bobohu18, I’m Sehoon. I hope you will have a nice time among us’ the tall character reminds him of his friend and fellow gamer Sehun; Baekhyun guesses the character was inspired by him. He taps the screen and the text along with the character changes.

‘Hello, beautiful. Name’s Lay” the most handsome of the bunch winks and Baekhyun really enjoys his features.

Then, the rest of the characters, he hasn’t met yet arrive.

 

‘Hi Bobohu18, we are happy to count you among us. I can’t wait to work with you’, Kyungsoo smiles. Kai on the other hand, just says ‘Welcome, gardener!’ with a smile that Baekhyun assumes to be cheeky.

 

Gosh, they are so handsome. The side characters are eye candy, Baekhyun already knows he will enjoy playing this.

 

After the introductions, it’s time he finally gets to create his future boyfriend ! He taps his screen to go to the settings to make a perfect boyfriend, up to his ideals. A few minutes later, and _Loey_ is created. Although he chose his physical attributes and characteristics like his age, name, and clothes, Baekhyun hasn't gotten to meet him yet and he has no idea what his personality would be like. In “Hot summer : Finding my true love”, one can get to choose physical traits or their name but not their personality. Therefore, Baekhyun has no idea what kind of man Loey will be. Will he be flirty ? Will he be a bit _cold_ ? He figures Loey would be charming, albeit not easy to woo.

 

Baekhyun is asked a favour by the maid. As he is the new gardener, he has to buy mold for the garden. Easy : he clicks on ‘shop’ and purchases some, noting that he doesn't have much money to begin with. He continues playing for a little while and he is quickly getting used to all the characteristics of this dating game.

 

Suddenly, the novel takes over and Baekhyun finds himself “lost on the way back home”, in a forest he apparently went through to get to the market. It reads ‘Oh no ! Where am I ?’ Baekhyun rolls his eyes, but that’s part of the plot so he continues to touch his screen, the messages streaming under his eyes ‘I think I lost my way… What should I do ? It is getting dark too.’

 

‘What do I do ?’ asks the game. And for once, Baekhyun has no idea what he should do. ‘Try to get back home’ or ‘Wait until someone finds me’

 

Boldy, he chooses ‘Try to get back home’. However, luck doesn’t seem to be on his side, and he apparently gets even more lost. The drawing of the woods darkening, he notices his heart gauge is lowering. It worsens as Baekhyun notices fog growing in the dark forest, up the up to the point his gauge is flashing read, alerting him that he could _faint_. However, just then, someone appears.

 

‘You were here’, says Loey. It’s their first interaction, and Baekhyun’s eyes widen as he sees him. He is perfectly aware that he _himself_ decided of Loey’s appearance earlier today, yet he can’t help but admire him, amazed. His raven black hair, that is pushed up in a comma hairstyle looks so royal-like. His big, rounded eyes, his mole on the nose, his pink lips…and ugh, Baekhyun imagines Loey would have a _deep_ voice.

 

‘You’re Bobohu18, right ? What are you doing here ?’ To this Baekhyun answers ‘I got lost on my way back home’.

 

Loey seems to understand as he takes Baekhyun’s Bobohu18’s hand, leading him back home. It’s not real, yet Baekhyun feels giddy. If only someone held his hand like this ‘It’s nice to meet you, Bobohu18. Don’t worry too much now, I’m here.’

 

‘All my anxiety and worries disappeared at those words.’ is what his character feels after Loey safely brings him back home. On this note Baekhyun finishes the first ‘chapter’ of his novel game. The evening goes well.

 

Baekhyun plays for a few hours, he doesn’t see the time pass by as he is gaining experience, points, filling his gauge with hearts, he hasn't managed to make Loey blush yet but he did find himself blushing more than once because of the game. He is trying to identify Loey’s personality a bit more, to learn more about him and it seems like the tall raven haired male is the _man of his dreams_ ! Although a bit distant in the beginning, Baekhyun can see that Loey is not who he seems to be at first sight. For one, confidence is overflooding off Loey. The virtual character seems to always have his way with precise words, always engaging Bobohu18 in interesting conversations -and for _a game character_ , it is very hard to do. Baekhyun finds himself in admiration to the nice character whose compliments he receives from are too good to be true. Loey is also drawn standing tall, his replicas are smart and his flirtatious behavior can only make Bobohu18 _and Baekhyun_ ’s knees wobble.

 

The thing is, he is quickly bored because of the predictability nature of the adventures yet he continues to play on his phone, playing and choosing carefully the next actions for his virtual soon-to-be boyfriend.

 

But then Baekhyun’s character falls sick. ‘Uh?’ Baekhyun jabbers. He’s never played through a game his character falls ill in.

 

Thankfully, and he thinks the game makers of “Hot summer : Finding my true love” are smarter than he gave them credit for, because Loey knocks at his door, asking him why he hasn’t come down to eat his breakfast yet.

 

Between ‘Do not answer and pretend to sleep’, ‘I *cough* I think I’m sick’ and ‘Loey...come in please.’, he doesn’t hesitate picking the third choice. That action leads to Loey taking care of his character.

 

‘I will take care of you, Bobohu18’ it reads. The next image on the screen is a beautiful one of Loey nursing Baekhyun’s character back to health as he holds a wet towel to his forehead. He quickly screenshots it to save it in his gallery for _‘um, future reference’._

 

Baekhyun wishes he’d have someone who’d care for him like this, in real life.

 

Later that day, after Baekhyun’s vision is blurry from playing for too many hours, he still finds himself staring at a screen. Chanyeol came over because Baekhyun called him, and they decided to watch “Lion”, a movie they both had been meaning to watch for some time now. At some point, their attentions drift from the movie and they talk.

 

Baekhyun is watching his best friend as he tells him about random things he learned in class. Sadly, they don’t share the same major, so the only times they see each other at university is when they eat together. He misses the presence of his best friend in class, like when they were still high schoolers. They were closer back then, and always clinging to each other. Recently, they have both been increasingly neglecting their friendship. Baekhyun would say it is caused by his growing “passion” for games, that he prefers to play instead of going out on saturdays. As he listens to Chanyeol, he rests his head in the palm of his hand, smiling and watching his friend who won’t stop talking. At some point he stops paying attention to what Chanyeol is saying and looks at him, truly watches him. His body language, the deep tone of his voice,.. he realises then he kind of missed his friend and that maybe he spends too much time on his screens. But what can he do ? Baekhyun is addicted, and he knows it. Yet, he can’t change it. He isn’t ready - yet -  to will himself to deal with his game addiction, although at the back of his mind he knows it stands in the way of too many things he wants to reach out to. Like a _successful life_ , a _social life_ , a...life.

 

Baekhyun thinks his life’s ambition must be, like thousands of others, to find love, and happiness. Although romance and happiness are two concept which are not necessarily linked, he thinks he would be happier if he had a fulfilling love life.

 

To put it simply, otome games are flirting/dating games, … Games set in a world where everything is beautiful, magical, ethereal… Games where everyone is so polite and Baekhyun can get the charming prince in the end. Not to mention, he gets a bunch of handsome admirers, courting you like in the past. Who wouldn’t want that ? But, the _real_ thing would be way better.

 

After awhile, they stop talking and quietly watch the movie again. Chanyeol is getting sleepy, but he fights his tiredness. He doesn’t spend much time with his best friend anymore, so he knows he should at least be awake when they’re together.

The room is silent except for the movie until it ends, and they both shed a few tears. The movie is a real life story, and it gets Baekhyun and Chanyeol emotional. They talk about it over a drink, after  Baekhyun takes out his few branded fruit juices bottles, “Do you want some ?”.

 

Changing the subject, Chanyeol sips his apple juice and tiredly asks him about his life, “What’s up? We haven’t talked like this in a while. Did... something happen?” The black-haired man misses his friend and hanging out with him. He also notices that they have been drifting away from each other a bit, lately. He blames it on having a social life and not being in the mood to always listen to Baekhyun talk about this new game feature or that new game he completed.

 

Baekhyun can’t think of one thing happening in his life other than his new game. “Uh, I downloaded this one otome game” Baekhyun is sticking his bottom lip out, acting like he will get scolded.

 

Another one ? Chanyeol -mentally-rolls his eyes. “Was it this game you spent all evening hooked on ?”

 

Deciding to ignore the comment about being hooked -he so isn’t !- he answers, “And you know Sehun and Jongdae from Prince of Charms ? They asked me to try it before it gets released and review it. Of course I wanted to help, they wanted to have my input. So I agreed, because, they’re my friend y’know ? And you know, I just wanna be helpful. And they will let the game’s developers know what the people testing think. I’m excited, I’ll be useful and help to make the game better ! I can point out glitches and run it through for testing. That way others will have a nice _dating experience_.”

 

Chanyeol is eyeing him with an undecipherable look.

 

“I’m obsessed with this character. ” Then Baekhyun proceeds to show him pictures online, but Chanyeol’s tired and his eyelids feel heavy. He only hums in reply to pretend an interest in Baekhyun’s game. Frankly, he doesn’t really want to hear about Baekhyun’s virtual boyfriends that much. His loss of interest on the subject might or might not be because Baekhyun talks about these games 24/7, every time they see each other. He knows him by heart, yet he can’t help but feel a bit put off and weirded out by his dating games obsession.

 

Chanyeol knows he plays otome games all the time and he knows he sacrifices sleep and sometimes food to play. And Baekhyun knows he shouldn’t worry about what his best friend thinks. After all, who does he think he is, if he thinks he can tell him how he should live his life ? They are at university, and they are free to do what they want to do.

 

Baekhyun can spend his time doing what pleases him. He is an adult. He didn’t always have this much freedom and maybe that’s the reason why he is so addicted to those games now... But still. That’s unhealthy. It concerns Chanyeol, who is hesitating to act upon his complains. He wills himself to not make a big deal about it. It’s not like he is jealous, or something. Or maybe he is, but he wouldn’t ever admit to himself or to Baekhyun that he is jealous, that’s just impossible in their friendship. Even if the two are very close, there still are some things they don’t tell each other. They happen to have some untold taboos. They do not share the same views and opinions on everything. But yet, Baekhyun still worries that his friend will repeat again, for the umpteenth time, that he should not waste his time on this. He pretends not to care, but he happens to be lacks confidence and values his friend’s opinion a lot.

 

“Loey is so hot and nice. He is the sweetest boy, ever. He takes me out on dates and cares for my character when I fall sick. When I met him at first I was lost -because that’s in the game plot, and guess what ? He found me and helped me get back home ! Ah... also, did I mention how handsome he looks ? If he were real, he would totally be a model ! I wish we would date soon. But we can’t date for now, I haven’t made enough progress in the game yet.” Since he is on the verge of falling into morpheus’ arms, Chanyeol doesn’t realise how Baekhyun speaks about Loey as if he were a real person.

 

He doesn't even look at Baekhyun’s phone and just hums, slowly closing his eyes as he barely listens to his friend who describes how perfect _Loey_ is _._

 

He is falling asleep as his friend keeps on talking and talking about his game. Baekhyun immediately notices when Chanyeol’s head falls to the side, he huffs indignantly before smiling at his sleeping friend. In a sudden moment of affection, he pulls out a blanket and proceeds to cover and tuck his friend in before letting him to rest. He leaves and goes back to his computer.

 

Loey has probably been waiting for him.

 

4: In “Hot Summer : Finding my true love”, you can play various activities with your potential boyfriends, including baking. You can “cook” together, feed your boyfriend, and he will feed you in return. These activities help you gain hearts, allowing you to go on more dates with your virtual boyfriend. The longer you play, the more your hearts gauge grows, and you make progress in the game, ultimately winning Loey’s heart over. If you do something wrong, or if you purposely make things difficult, then the heart gauge shrinks.

 

Baekhyun loves that. So... Of course, Baekhyun completed this baking task already, and whenever he needs extra points to win other dates, he plays this in-game game, and he goes to cafes with Loey.

 

He feeds Loey, and lets Loey clean the side of his mouth because Baekhyun chooses to drink -in-game- mocha. Just earlier, he gained points when he wisely chose —it wasn’t difficult, really— the right answer to Loey’s question.  “Are you going to the dance party this evening ?”

Baekhyun could choose ’Yes, why not.’ , ’Yes, but I will need a dance partner’ or ’No, I hate dancing!’ Or course he chose the second option, enticing Loey to invite him.

 

He cannot wait to unlock level 16 to be able to go places and unlock more hairstyles to look better when he goes on dates with Loey. He has been eyeing this particular chestnut hairstyle for a while now— it looks like his hair, in real life. It’s a fantasy, he knows he is a bit in too deep. But somehow, pretending the Baekhyun in the game is the same as the real Baekhyun, as he makes the decisions—- lets him believe that Loey’s attention is really on him, (like he unknowingly would want a certain tall boy’s to be). Like Loey is not just the result of coding, and like he is really the prince, Baekhyun has been willing and wishing  to have by his side for so long.

 

What makes Chanyeol so jealous is, everytime he peeks over his best friend’s shoulder and sees him giddy, happy to fill the gauge with hearts, making Loey blush, he feels upset. He knows Baekhyun is just playing but why is he giving more attention to a character in a game than to him, his REAL friend ? What’s more unnerving is when, Baekhyun excitedly explained to him that it’s actually quite difficult, even for a gamer like him, to make Loey blush. That had Chanyeol’s blood boiling for some reason.

Another example of Chanyeol’s inexplicable jealousy is how jealous he is when Baekhyun blushes all the time when he’s playing this game. In “Hot Summer : Finding my true love”, you can do ‘love bright!’ missions, and ask your boyfriend something, such as cringy things like ‘Can you give me a piggyback ride?’ or ‘ask Loey on a date’ and depending on what you answered, he could pat your head or not, accept your requests, or not.

 

If he pats your head—which is a thing that Loey always does and that has Baekhyun blushing—you gain hearts, credits, and more coins to buy clothes, and other accessories like makeup or hats. If he does not pat your head, you do not gain anything. There was that one time Baekhyun was playing while in the bus with Chanyeol, and the latter was just watching him play. Baekhyun got his -virtual- head patted three times, and he blushed. He blushed in real life.

 

Not only was Chanyeol very irritated by this, but he was also shocked. Who even falls in love with a fictional character ? Frowning really hard, Chanyeol looked like he wanted to snatch Baekhyun's phone and throw it out of the bus’ window.  His mood dampened when Baekhyun suddenly screeched, “I gained one level Up, AHH!”

 

Both of them are so oblivious. Like him, Loey is this tall, black haired and slim flower boy who doesn’t need to put too much effort to be attractive. Even in track pants, Chanyeol is handsome. They do not realise that Loey is pretty much a carbon copy of his best friend. Sure, Loey might be a prince, and even if he might be a bit more mature than Chanyeol, but those are details. Other than those details, neither Baekhyun nor Chanyeol realise that Loey is the 2D version of Park Chanyeol.

 

One month later, when Loey and him finally end up together the free version ends. To continue playing this game, Baekhyun has to pay. And paying, he does. 6,99$ a month is not THAT expensive, in his opinion. Moreover, he reminds himself that it will be released soon, and he will be able to play the game on multiple supports _(computer, phone, tablet..)_. Baekhyun actually took more time than he expected to complete the game. He hasn’t sent his review in yet either. He is supposed to review the game once he reaches a couple of chapters and drama occurs. On top of dating Loey, Bobohu18 has to undergo relationship drama. He figures he was not the only one asked to review, which sets his mind at ease. He isn’t too far back in the dating game. He still hurries and goes on dates with Loey, carefully choosing the right reactions and interacting in the most flirtatious way possible, while still keeping his reserved persona. Baekhyun is nothing short of shy and introverted after all.

 

Later on, when Chanyeol learns that Baekhyun has been paying to actually continue dating something that isn’t real, he worries for his friend. From time to time, when Baekhyun goes on a date with Loey, he goes into cafes, there are a few glitch errors that Baekhyun notes, reminding himself to point it out to Sehun.

 

As he mails the intern, Oh Sehun back a full, complete and informative review he tells him that he completed the test for the free version, and that he is very enthusiastic. It’s the best otome game he has played so far, and he is ’in love’ with his virtual boyfriend. Sehun says it’s perfect, they had been waiting for his review, and they are excited as well. They will release “Hot summer : Finding my true love” at a set date, as the developers do not mind waiting for the last tester review to release the game. He also mentions that Sehoon was inspired by him, and Baekhyun snorts; of course he noticed.

 

Later, as he waits, Baekhyun can barely contain himself from screeching in excitement. He just learned that the game is about to be released tomorrow, and he is excited because he will try the computer version and the tablet version as well. He will be able to link his phone to all his other devices and keep going from where he left off, not losing any of his progress.

 

Baekhyun briefly thinks about his non existent _real_ love life, and he reflects about it a little before reverting back to doing what he does too well -gaming. To think about what he craves, what is missing to his life, is way too disturbing. He only wants to think about it when he’s sad —which is rarely the case, considering his numerous distractions. Despite having tried to think about it and pushing the disturbing thought to the back of his head, it still comes back, haunting him. Baekhyun is alone, and he really wishes someone would be interested in him romantically. He focuses more on his game, putting his attention on gardening the flowers and interacting with his virtual boyfriend. But for some reason, the thoughts stay in his mind. He feels tired for no reason-or maybe for a reason after all, the screens draining all of his energy. Although he tries to stay awake for the release of the game, he falls asleep alone in his room, the AC on, he is clutching his phone as he dreams of full lips and big, almond eyes that night.

 

That same night, the game has gotten out to the public.

  
The next morning, he’s woken up by a deep voice. He knows all too well who it belongs to. Chanyeol. How did he get inside ? Chanyeol explains he borrowed (with an innocent smile, but smirking with his eyes) Baekhyun's keys and made a double the week before. The sleepy head does not mention his pleasant dream was cut off and he forgets everything about it, as his eyes gradually adapt to reality and to his friend going on and on about things Baekhyun finds difficult to process in his sleepy state.

 

Anyway, he is here now asking him to clear his schedule for him this evening, because they’re going bowling with his classmates. As he sets the take out coffee, he obviously bought for Baekhyun, on his bedside table, Chanyeol opens the window blinds. Explaining they needed to be an even number for the teams, and he wanted to see his friend. Baekhyun wonders why they didn’t ask for another one of his friends to join —since Chanyeol has so many— instead of him, a weak, second-rate player. He pushes the thought to the back of his head, and agrees with his plans. He better not get any ideas, Chanyeol won’t ever look at him _that way, right ?_

After accepting his invitation, Baekhyun urges Chanyeol to cook him breakfast (“since you came here uninvited”), and the taller ruffles his hair affectionately. He leaves after eating breakfast with him : some three days old cheesecake he found in the back of Baekhyun’s fridge. At least he had had the decency not to come empty handed and bring him coffee. He enjoyed his mocha….creamy and tall, and soft, just like Baekhyun likes it. He doesn’t know why, but the drink kind of reminds him of Chanyeol. He laughs at his stupidity and pushes, once again, these unwanted thoughts his subconscious mind is pushing forward…like _having a crush on his best friend_ , to the back of his mind. He does not even realise his chain of thoughts.

 

The bowling outing goes well, except when Baekhyun who - Chanyeol has noticed - has recently gotten far too obsessed with this one game, pockets his jeans and looks around, before he secretly takes out his phone. Since everyone is having fun and it is noisy, he is unnoticed to everyone but Chanyeol. He knows he’s playing _this one_ special game in particular because he could recognize the music everywhere now. He admits it’s frustrating and he is feeling upset, alone and a tiny bit jealous. Thankfully, Baekhyun just seems to checks a few notifications and taps his screen a few times, before placing it back to his pocket just as discreetly. After they leave the bowling valley and their friends, much to Baekhyun’s request, Chanyeol walks him home before going back to his house. Baekhyun then sits down on the couch, sighing. He looks ahead, his eyes unfocused, before sparing a glance at where Chanyeol was minutes ago. A fleeting thought that ‘Well, he has to admit that Chanyeol ah is very charming’ passes through his mind and when it does, he wills himself to suppress this thought, because ‘ _what the heck ?’_ This needs to stop, he can’t pine on Chanyeol like this. His friend isn’t here, yet, he can still feel his presence. He downloads the game after Chanyeol’s departure, both on his tablet and computer and synchronises his account to save all of his progress.

 

It gets to the point where Chanyeol is upset 24/7 because Baekhyun is always playing games, thus he feels concerned and abandoned. So he does what he knows best : whine. He’s complaining to his friend Kasper over drinks.

 

“It’s his life, you gotta let him do whatever he likes, let him do things that he loves. Let him live, if he enjoys playing video games, then so be it. Let him be.”

“But I’m concerned for his well being, he doesn’t go out as much, he’s constantly on his phone. Baek almost lost his entire social life… I mean, we’re best friends and he acts like I’m invisible…” Chanyeol pouts. Yet he knows Kasper is right, it’s not his life, it’s Baekhyun’s. What right does he have to do anything ? He can’t have a say on how is friend lives his life.

“Yeol, you know it. He’ll get over it someday. He’ll learn on his own, let him be will ya ? The key to happiness is to do things that make you happy and let people do things that make them happy.”

 

He knows it, yet, yet… He partially disagrees with Kasper. He wants to express his concern to his friend.

 

“I know that Baekhyun doesn’t owe me anything. He has the right to do as he pleases. I’m just his friend, it’s not like he’s my boyfriend or something.” He utters before taking a big gulp of his drink. Even if he was, Chanyeol wouldn’t have anything to say on the matter on how Baekhyun spends his time. He feels lonely, though.

“What bothers me is that Baekhyun wasn’t like this before.”

“You have to accept him for who he is, Chanyeol. Isn’t he your best friend?”

“But I miss my friend. I miss him... because he’s my best friend. And I feel like I’m losing him, like he’s only holding on to one thread; and if I let go of that thread, I’ll lose him forever. His game addiction is too much, Baekhyun is obsessed with it.”

He pauses “Anyway, I’m sure he won’t eat or shower if I don’t check on him every day to remind him.” He humorlessly snorts. Not willing to out his friend, he does not tell Kasper that Baekhyun’s addicted to a virtual boyfriend. He doesn’t need to; apparently Kasper already knows.

 

Amused and indifferent about the whole situation, Kasper suggests: “Look, I get why you’re fed up and you’re obviously concerned. I’m touched you chose to ask for my advice, but you have to learn how to let go. What I can tell you is to accept that you might be jealous of this otome guy because you like Byun.”

 

“I-What ?! No ! I don’t like Baekhyun that way !” Chanyeol splutters, shocked.

 

He suddenly stands up, shoving his chair backwards and turns to Kasper “Did you drink before you came here ? Or has that beer gotten up to your head ? What are you thinking? What are you saying ?! I’m not in love with Baekhyun ! He’s just my friend, my best friend !!” before he turns away and childishly leaves, leaving him to pay for the note as payback.

 

Kasper watches him, amused by his denial as Chanyeol sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

  


——

 

Chanyeol stops munching on his guacamole toasts : The netflix series he has been binge watching since this morning and been engrossed in, has become too intense. He was looking for something to watch when he stumbled across the newly released episodes of Black mirror. As he watches the episodes where Virtual reality and online dating are put under analysis, he cannot help but think of his friend. He bites his lips in concern, and he is close to calling Baekhyun and demand him to be careful with the technologies he uses so much.

 

The next morning, Baekhyun receives a text. Opening it, he sees that Chanyeol texted him to meet up with their friends for lunch. He answers with a simple “On my way!” And walks towards the cafeteria. He soon spots his best friend, who waves him over. But even from a distance he can sense that something is wrong.

 

After taking a tray and buying a simple soup and a sandwich, he joins Chanyeol and their other friends, Joon Gi, Yifan and Kasper.

 

As he sits next to Chanyeol, he can’t help but notice the strange atmosphere; how gloomy a certain someone seems to be. Chanyeol is barely talking, in fact he is just looking down at his plate and eating in silence. This is so out of character, so different from how he usually behaves. His mood, unlike his usual talkative self, seems to affect every one of their friends. Out of everyone he knows, Chanyeol is the brightest, more lively of his friends, he has such a bubbly personality ! Although he complains quite often, him being so quiet and looking so blue is very out of character.

 

Did something happen ? He wonders as he notices Joon Gi desperately trying to lift up everyone’s mood -which apparently sunk down a pit- as he makes most of the conversation at the table.

 

Baekhyun knows there is something wrong but he won’t pry, at least not here. They agreed to have lunch together and Baekhyun wants to talk to him. But since even Yifan and Kasper seem down, too, Baekhyun restrains himself.

 

The chestnut-haired boy is feeling anxious. Why does Chanyeol look so lifeless ? He nudges his best friend, and asks in a whisper “What’s wrong ?” to what Chanyeol replies “It’s nothing, Baek. I’ve just had a bad night.”

 

Baekhyun doesn’t answer anything to that, choosing to nod and taking another bite of his veggie sandwich. As he sips his soup, he sets his eyes on Joon Gi who sits across him, who just shrugs as if to say ’I don’t know what is wrong with him either’.

 

Was Chanyeol feeling down ? Why did he have a bad night ? As he worries for his friend, his mood can’t possibly get gloomier.

 

To try to lift everyone’s mood a bit and to not have to spend another second eating his meal in this unbearable awkwardness, Baekhyun tries to joke around. He and Chanyeol have a similar sense of humor, so it should lift his spirits, he hopes. He quickly thinks of a pun, the kind of jokes he often does to make everyone smile.

Everyone at their table knows of his unhealthy obsession with otome games, so no one is really surprised, yet…

 

Out of the blue, he jokingly says “I spent the whole night with my boyfriend !” and once again, that seems to result in a reaction from his friend, since in the very next second, Chanyeol mutters something inaudible and frowns.

 

Something is off. There is a heavy silence as Baekhyun grins and expectantly looks at each of his friends. He expects them to laugh, roll their eyes,… maybe even to be scolded ! But nothing like this. Baekhyun cringes, no one laughed at his joke. Chanyeol does not  laugh because he is tired of Loey. Moreover, addictions are not funny and he is worried. The other three don’t dare react to this, resulting in an increase of the overwhelming tension.

 

A full minute in silence, and Kasper who can’t stand the tense air breaks the silence. He turns to the tallest of their group and asks “What’s wrong, man ? You’re acting strangely”, he actually thinks he knows what’s going on, as this morning Chanyeol mentioned watching a disturbing episode of Black Mirror last night. All Kasper wants is to help the friends he is rooting for. He wants his two friends to realise that they’re in love. Maybe he shouldn’t interfere, he ponders.

 

Chanyeol answers, “It’s nothing, I’m just upset, it’s something personal”. Baekhyun is saddened by this; because apparently he really is upset yet all he told him was that he “had a bad night”. He feels a painful tug in his gut, because for how long has Chanyeol stopped telling him about his personal issues ?

There were never many secrets between them, so he is worried. Maybe Chanyeol has familial problems ? Maybe he is sick ? Maybe he is questioning his school orientation ?

But, he unwillingly lets it slide for now.

 

He proceeds to ask Kasper about his day and asks Joon Gi about his week. Baekhyun fakes a smile and turns to Chanyeol “So, what happened lately ?”

 

Whilst munching on his fruits, Chanyeol is looking at the apple he eats, seemingly disinterested.

He makes an awfully good job at appearing unbothered. “Not much. Kim —a guy I’m doing the group project with— was late today so he had me wait for half an hour in the school library. I was bored so I read a magazine, and …” he keeps distracting himself by talking about pointless things. Distractions allow him not to think about his concerns too much.

 

Chanyeol has indeed been feeling down because he watched so many episodes of ’Black Mirror’ yesterday, that he got scared for his friend. What if Baekhyun turns into one of these games addicted person who do not even eat and die in front of their computers ? What if he begins to think that living in a virtual world is better than experiencing reality ? What if Baekhyun has no love life and dates his computer all his life ? To this point, he thinks his friend is close to being a hikikomori. He lets these thoughts wander at the back of his mind, as he continues to eat what he considers fruits  —a bag of dried peach, apple, lemon and banana slices.

 

Baekhyun won’t buy his act, though.

 

That same evening, Chanyeol comes over, inviting himself over with a pizza, movies and complaining about this one classmate of his, the one he has to do a group project with, the too perfect, loved by everyone, Kim Minseok. It seems as if Chanyeol wants to pretend nothing happened, as if he were not quiet and upset when they ate lunch earlier today. Baekhyun takes his phone out and he _pretends to play._

 

“And then he said that I’m useless ! I mean it’s not my fault I don’t use the same excel version as him—….hey.” He briefly sighs. “Are you even listening to me ?” But nope, he gets no reply. As Chanyeol inwardly complains again, he notices that his friend wasn’t listening to him all along. He is playing that cursed game on his phone instead, again.

 

Sure, no one likes to hear other people complain, but Chanyeol feels worse than a forgotten sock. After a few beats Baekhyun says “Yeah yeah, go on I’m listening Yeol”, he does not see Chanyeol’s crestfallen expression.

 

Chanyeol decides to do something that might help Baekhyun get rid of his addiction to games : Reconnecting to reality.

“Y’know, I’ve been thinking it’d do us some good to, go into the wild and stuff.”

Baekhyun looks up from his screen this time. “Go into the wild and stuff?”

“Yeah… Um, the guys, my buds from comm. class? We want to go camping. If you’re up to it, you should join us. One of them has a small cabin, in the woods.” Chanyeol shyly mutters. He wants this small trip to “wake” Baekhyun up, so that he at least takes notice of his surroundings, his senses, his real life.

 

 _‘How cute.’_ Baekhyun thinks, but he does not even process the thought.

 

“So you want me to come on a trip with you and your friends ?”

“Mh-hm” Chanyeol nods expectantly, a twinkle in his eyes. Chanyeol knows that Baekhyun’s already accepted. He is fond of his best friend so he knows he can’t refuse him when he asks him to come with.

“Sure. When ?” Of course, Baekhyun accepts. 

Chanyeol smiles, “We don’t know yet. But cool. We’ll...set the dates soon.” he offers.

“Sure.” Baekhyun half-smiles and goes back to his phone, again. This time though, Baekhyun really zones out whilst playing and he forgets Chanyeol is even here.

Chanyeol comforts himself in the fact that at least, for once Baekhyun agreed to go out and do some sort of activity with other people. Baekhyun agreeing to come along to a trip outside of the city is rare, as the chestnut-haired man usually wouldn’t accept leaving his home. Chanyeol suspects that it is because he fears that there would be no internet to play his games. He is pleased that his friend agreed to join them, it makes him happy to know he will finally be able to spend some quality time with his best friend. Without his annoying online boyfriends, without the annoying music of Baekhyun’s game and the ‘ding!’ of his notifications. As he mentally passes all the ways they could enjoy this much deserved trip in review, Chanyeol thinks about Baekhyun’s feelings. Will he...crave for his phone and games during their short trip ? Can Baekhyun bear it if there is no LTE ? He wonders if he will enjoy this attempt to reconnecting with real things as much as he enjoys playing with his phone. “Hehe !” He hears Baekhyun cutely giggling to himself and he does not have to guess who makes him act this way : that’s his freaking _boyfriend_. Oh, how he wishes his best friend would wake up and stop being all shy and reacting like an idiot every time his phone compliments him, and- is he...blushing ?

 

He scowls as he sees Baekhyun’s ears changing colors until they become deep red. His patience has limits. He doesn’t know why or why now, but he snaps. He abruptly stands up and gathers his belongings, his chair scraping noisily against the floor. “I’ll leave you alone with your phone. I realise how much more interesting it is to you than I ever could be, Baek. Obviously.” he strides out the door in a huff, leaving it to slam.

A few minutes go by and Baekhyun is still in his spot, frozen in shame. He feels very upset and hurriedly goes back to his game, to distract himself and forget about the way Chanyeol sounded and looked just before he slammed his door. He shakes his head, getting rid of his worries and wonders when he will meet someone who treats him like Loey treats him ?...at least, Loey is not judging him. The screen lightens, and the generic of the novel-like game plays. ‘When will the two characters of this game finally get to win over each other's hearts ?’ To this point, Baekhyun knows the lovely melody by heart and even sings along as it plays. He too wonders, ‘when will Loey and I -Bobohu18- get together ?’. He does not know where his huge interest for romance and love in general comes from, but when he sees Loey, he understands. Loey is wearing nothing but towel. A towel ! Obviously, this kind of scene often happens in otome games. You get to see the character you are to fall in love with after he just showered. It is eye-candy and Baekhyun likes it a lot. But this one is exceptionally handsome, he is exactly his type. ‘Oh, Bobohu18. I wasn’t expecting anyone to use this washroom at this hour.’ Loey says and his face is drawn in a very seductive way. His hair that is often pushed up is down, and his black fringe falls just over his eyes. He is irresistible and has been, ever since he _improved_ Loey’s looks recently-unconsciously making him look like a certain someone.

 

—

 

Three days later, Baekhyun meets up with some friends, Jongdae and Yifan, in a trendy coffee shop. He feels like he needs to distract himself after his last encounter with Chanyeol. Was he...mad at him ? Is he still upset ? Because, and Baekhyun panics at the thought, it would be a first. After Chanyeol snapped at him and hurriedly left, for god knows what reason —that is what the smaller one believes happened, they did not mention anything about it. But Chanyeol texted him to reassure him : he was feeling prickly, is all.

  
“Did you hear about the trip to Kim Junmyeon’s cabin ?” asks Yifan.

 

Baekhyun’s mouth being filled with his pastry, he nods. “Yeol told me about this the other day when I was on a date with Loey.” He realises just then that what he said sounded strangely wrong... even awkward.

 

But why ? Baekhyun can’t seem to put his finger on it, but he knows there was something weird in the sentence he just pronounced. His friends don’t seem to take notice, as they know of Baekhyun’s obsession with otome games— and do not judge him for it.

Maybe if feels odd because he addressed Loey and Chanyeol as if they both were real, when one of the two isn’t.

 

He still doesn’t perceive the similarities between the two names.  
  
But Baekhyun did not tell this in front of just anyone. Thus, when Jongdae, his friend whose job he envies —the guy works as a full time editor and mod at Prince of charms, after all !— hears about this, he can’t help but be curious.

 

Jongdae notices details after all. And he guesses that it is how Baekhyun, or Bobohu18, decided to name his man in “Hot summer : Finding my true love”.

 

But… It turns out that this friend whom Baekhyun befriended last year is of the nosy type. _Loey ? Yeolee ?_

 

“What is going on?” Jongdae almost unintelligibly whispers to himself.

  
He is that one friend who would ask the, “unauthorized by the code of friendship, shall not be asked kind of questions” when tension is in the air. That one friend who has no brain to mouth filter. That one friend who bosses everyone around and is very serious when it comes to work, but the laziest of them all when it comes to everything else. That one funny, thoughtful and kind friend is Kim Jongdae.  
  
So Jongdae innocently asks “By the way, is Loey the name of your boyfriend ? Is that a foreign name?”  
  
Silence.  
  
A very embarrassing explanation ensues. Baekhyun splutters “He-he’s not my boyfriend… He’s just a character in the game” But of course, Jongdae already knows that.

 

“Really ? Um, I see, it’s a character you created then. I was sure they did not make dudes with weird name on “Finding my true love”. Is that American ?” He pauses and smirks, a teasing yet curious glint in his eyes. “Where’d you get the name from ?” He wonders what inspired him.  
  
At that moment, Baekhyun wants nothing more than to leave, because for one… That’s embarrassing. Even he does not remember where he got that name from. Somehow, the vowels sounded good together, almost like something natural. Sounds he just loves to hear, once brought together created a pleasant name. And second, he wants to leave because he isn’t used to being questioned like this. He doesn’t like feeling everyone’s —except it’s just his friend’s — eyes on him.

 

Feeling self conscious about his awkwardness, Baekhyun pathetically feels himself blushing. He has a ‘gaming personality’ and he whilst he acknowledges that he named his _boyfriend_ , his friends might find it weird. He knows real life means nerve wracking situations, including embarrassing yourself in front of your friends, or worse, in front of your crush. It certainly does not mean carefree flirting and making small talk with all the confidence and time in the world, like he is used to when playing his otome games.  
  
“I don’t know. It just came to mind. ”

  
“It sounds foreign. Like ‘Goey’.. Or ‘Yeol’, backwards.. hahaha !” Jongdae’s eyes widen as he suddenly understands. “Does Chanyeol know about this ?”

 

Baekhyun splutters, shocked “N-no ! That’s a coincidence ! Loey just sounded cool, ugh !” and as his friends notice…he is beet red.

 

This time, Yifan feels it’s his turn to step in. Of course, he understood. “…. That’s fucked up, Dae.”

  
“I know, but can’t you see?”  
  
Not understanding what they mean, Baekhyun is left clueless and bothered as his two friends have a staring conversation, before they both drop the subject quickly. _‘See what?’_ , he wonders. It seems like Baekhyun hasn’t opened his eyes yet.

 

Yifan thinks about his two friends. Chanyeol and Baekhyun are quite the pair, he must say. He got to know them at the same time, in their second year of university. He got to know Baekhyun through Chanyeol and although the two have very different personalities, they get along better than anything. They’re more than best friends, they’re infatuated with each other, he thinks. ‘They must be soulmates or something.’

He can see that Baekhyun has it _bad_. How can he be so smitten with Chanyeol and yet, not know ? It’s just logical, it’s obvious. He is infatuated with Chanyeol. And anyone seeing the way Baekhyun gets flustered and reddens, muttering to himself, would know that this guy likes Chanyeol. Yet, he lives without knowing what his heart wants. And Chanyeol, he thinks, should stop whining to other people that Baekhyun doesn’t spend time with him anymore. It’s true that he is also expressing concern for his friend, but how much more obvious does he want to look ? Yifan shudders as he is reminded of Chanyeol talking to him earlier today. He was unconsciously pouting and complaining about “Missing Baekhyun” to just anyone and everyone, and Yifan wonders why his friends are so ignorant of their own feelings.

Baekhyun on the other hand, quiets down as he recalls the other day’s events.

 

The next time they see each other, which is three days after the small incident, Chanyeol and Baekhyun are, for lack of a better term, awkward towards each other. However, if the tension subsides, Baekhyun also notices changes. There has been a change, he notices more and more things about Chanyeol. He gets easily flustered around the taller one and does not know why.

 

Earlier, Chanyeol texted him to know if he was busy, and they agreed to meet up at the lobby of Baekhyun’s apartment complex. Chanyeol came to pick him up, and they’re heading to get something to drink in a coffee shop, Chanyeol had been wanting to try. They walk there, and on the way, they do small talk.

 

They stop as Chanyeol looks up something on his phone’s map app. He’s not sure if they are on the right way to ‘Hipster café’, the coffee shop he wanted to try. Baekhyun smiles as he fidgets next to Chanyeol. His best friend always has had a bad sense of directions/ bad orientation.

 

Baekhyun uses this moment to glance at him. At first, he just plainly looks at him as he mumbles things about going back to the previous street to turn left—

 

And then, for some reason, when the sun shines just right, Chanyeol looks so handsome and blinding, that Baekhyun is surprised. It’s sudden. When did his best friend become so cute and attractive ? Like a character from a manga, Chanyeol’s aura seems to be filled with flowers and glitters, making him stand out in the busy street. He notices that Chanyeol is wearing a very light layer of eyeliner, but other than this minor detail, Baekhyun wonders how it could be that his skin is glowing. He is dazzling.

 

_‘Is it today’s lighting, do I look more handsome, too?’_

 

Baekhyun is staring, lost in his thoughts and forgets where he is until he snaps out of his reverie, his heart beating way too fast for his liking. It’s beating so fast, it feels like it could leap out of his chest at any moment.

 

He looks away as Chanyeol tilts an eyebrow as if to inquire, ’what’s up?’. After awhile -it’s just a few seconds, but to Baekhyun it feels like way too long already, he looks back at his friend and shrugs. Chanyeol shakes his head and smiles, but Baekhyun can still hear beat drums pounding in his ears. What in the world is happening with his body ?

 

“Now I got it. We’ve just got to go back and it will be just one hundred meters away. Let’s go.” Chanyeol confirms as he slides his phone back into his pocket.

 

Baekhyun is still paralyzed, as if glued to his spot. Chanyeol is...distracting him.

 

Something similar happened, another time last week, when he found himself staring at Chanyeol’s lips after his raven-haired best friend drank from his juice bottle… he gets chills just thinking about it.. He stammered ‘Yah ! Can’t you drink normally?!’ That, once again, Baekhyun puts on the account that his friend is always licking his lips. Chanyeol can’t drink properly or even use his mouth properly to save a life ! Is he obligated to distract him —and by ‘him’, Baekhyun means _EVERYONE—_ when he gets lost in his thoughts, licking his damn lips ? Does he have to drink like a kid, spilling liquid on his chin that he has to lick his lips afterwards ? A feeling close to rage possesses Baekhyun. He doesn’t understand what is happening to his brain.

 

Chanyeol is so distracting. Distracting him from his thoughts, from his other _distractions_ (read : video games, otome games, computer games...)

 

Of course, little does Baekhyun know, his best friend also finds himself admiring him, especially the moles decorating his face and his curvaceous lips.

 

They arrive at the coffee shop and order some drinks before sitting in a corner. “It’s cozy in here” Chanyeol notes. The soft music helps him gather some courage to initiate a conversation and go with the flow, as always and to be expected from the two best friends.

 

It has only been a day, therefore, Baekhyun is not less obsessed with his game than before their argument, but he tries to take some breaks when he socializing. He is trying right now. It’s not easy when he can feel the need to take his phone out of his jacket, as he can see his screen’s light signifying that Loey is left unattended,out of the corner  of his eyes.. But after he made Chanyeol angry, he prefers to make an effort. Baekhyun _knows_ that Chanyeol was disappointed in him that day. The temptation to check, just one time, is unbearable. After all, Baekhyun receives notifications from “Hot summer : Finding my true love” all the time. It urges him to play and it’s, in a way, intruding on his life —even when he goes to the toilet. He could deactivate his notifications, but his Fear of Missing out is all consuming.

 

He almost pulls his phone out of his pocket, but just then, through his mind flashes Chanyeol’s crestfallen, angered and disappointed expression. The facial expression he wore the other day. All thoughts of Loey are pushed to the back of his mind.

 

Less than thirty minutes later, Baekhyun is still eating with Chanyeol when it happens. That _oh crap_ moment. He looks up to see his friend enjoying his food and looking _dazzling_ . Baekhyun internally sighs. He’s in too deep. That moment when he realises he might, just might have _some kind of_ feelings for Chanyeol, Baekhyun has a short freaking out session. Because, … what if ? Internally, it’s a red alert, he’s panicking. But on the outside, he nods and pretends to listen to Chanyeol, as he is busy taking in what he just realised. No, Baekhyun likes ‘like likes’ Loey. Loey is perfect boyfriend material, after all. Loey is the kind of boyfriend he wishes to have by his side. But he recently noticed things about his best friend. Things about Chanyeol that he would have preferred never to notice. And _wow,_ the thrill, the warm and the red cheeks... He feels it all. It feels too hot. Chanyeol has a strand of hair falling on his forehead because he pushed his hair up, and Baekhyun wants to thread his fingers into his friend’s locks and caress his shiny hair all day long. He blinks and shakes his head to chase the uncanny thoughts.

 

Park Chanyeol remains oblivious to everything, and Byun Baekhyun feels highly uncomfortable for having these thoughts about his best friend.

 

As a wakeup call, he shakes himself back into logic thinking. They’re back to being normal friends again, that’s all they are, that’s all they know. “That’s all we will ever be”, Baekhyun bitterly thinks. They’re back into the routine of hiding their feelings. Even if there seems to be a silent agreement to never talk about Chanyeol’s weird nut fit at the cafeteria the other day -that he would justify as ‘personal issues’-, there definitely is an unavoidable, growing tension. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are the best of friends, and they both know they can practically tell each other everything. The two best friends even came out to being gay together.

 

Later that day, after their coffee date-how Baekhyun wishes it were a date-, Baekhyun thinks they are going to go their separate ways, when Chanyeol asks :

 

“Can I crash at your place for awhile ? My roommate is inviting his friends over and I’m not in the mood to entertain them.”

 

“Why are you even asking ? Mi casa es tu casa. Of course you can. You can even sleep here.” Baekhyun misses the smile sent his way when he accepts. He often misses things.

 

“Thanks Baek ! I’ll buy us Ramyeon on the way, I’ll cook them for you or us ?.”

 

—-

 

“Food is almost ready.”

 

Later that evening, Baekhyun begrudgingly closes the app, mentally bidding Loey goodbye. He looks up from his phone at the same time as he locks it. Brown irises meet his, and Chanyeol sends him a smile. This isn't what he had thought would happen when he decided to visit his friend, but he will take anything for the meantime....

Baekhyun gets up from his couch to set the table. He thinks about something that has been on his mind lately… He is reminded of Chanyeol when he plays “Hot summer : Finding my true love”, more frequently. The character resembles Chanyeol in appearance, but he also finds similarities in their personalities.

 

There it is. The day Baekhyun can’t deny it anymore. He likes Chanyeol, a lot.

 

And then Chanyeol is telling him a funny story and Baekhyun is looking at him, he can’t suppress his goofy smile.

“-And then he was rolling over and over in the mud, I swear it was the most ridiculous sight ever !” Chanyeol chuckles as he rubs a tear out of his eye.

 

Baekhyun feels content, “You really seem in a good mood today, Yeol.” He smiles to him. “Of course I am. Maybe it’s because you’re finally spending some time with me !” He jokes and winks exaggeratingly, and Baekhyun can’t help but think his best friend is extremely handsome.

 

Baekhyun knows Chanyeol is kidding and teasing him, but he can’t control the blush spreading over his cheeks.

Getting his act together real quick, Baekhyun, though he is scared to death, confidently states, “You know you love me” and grossly sends Chanyeol a smooch. Chanyeol is obviously flustered by the action and his eyes widen. “Um..”

 

Baekhyun keeps silent. It’s odd. Is Chanyeol… blushing ?

 

 _‘He can’t be’._ Baekhyun convinces himself, ‘Don’t get your hopes up.’

 

Maybe the reason why he spends all his free? time on “Hot summer : Finding my true love” is because he unconsciously told himself that in real life, he would never get Chanyeol, so the only way he would be able to be with him would be to play the game.

 

Baekhyun realises then, with shock, that even Loey’s name is really drifted from Chanyeol. _Loey is Yeol_ backwards. He is amazed by his obliviousness. He realises Jongdae and Yifan might have noticed that before. He understands that they tried to point that out to him at the bar. How could he have been so blind?

 

Was his decision to name him that way a coincidence or is his subconscious guilty ?

 

When he set up all the game’s settings, it’s now obvious to him that he modified Loey to make him the closest-looking to Chanyeol as possible. How hasn’t he realised this earlier ??

 

Suddenly looking up as if a sixth sense told him to, he spots Chanyeol cooking Ramyeon in his kitchenette. Despite eating them so often, he cannot help but think that the salty and spicy smell of the noodles is very appealing, working up his appetite, delighting him.

 

Checking him out, Baekhyun nods to himself. Baekhyun has to admit that his best friend is a sight for sore eyes. Heck, Chanyeol’s remarkably attractive. He’s your typical asian flower boy, tall with wide almond eyes. The perfect typical kdrama lead actor…That is Park Chanyeol. Or at least that is how Baekhyun perceives him. But much more than that Chanyeol is chivalrous and helpful, he is kind, sometimes to the point of appearing obliging.

 

Chanyeol is the kind of guy who holds the door open for everyone, even to strangers. He’s the kind of friend who won’t let Baekhyun pay for his food or drinks when they eat out together. More of an outgoing person than himself, Park Chanyeol is the friend who stays in-doors to spend time with Baekhyun who is a stay at home-person. Even during the summertime, when all he wants is to go outside. In high school, his tall friend once stayed by his side when Baekhyun was grounded, instead of going to this amazing music festival he’d spent one hundred dollars on.

 

And when later, he guiltily asked him why he sacrificed going to the festival for him, Chanyeol shrugged as if it were obvious, as if it were clear as day. He is soft-hearted and charming, he is everything you would want or need in a partner. Just like Loey.

 

“No…”  Shaking his head, Baekhyun resumes observing his friend who’s blowing on their instant ramyeon. Chanyeol is so much more than Loey. Baekhyun realises then, how much he loves his best fr—

 _‘Wait. WHAT ?’_ He thought he had a crush on him… but love ? This is all happening too fast in Baekhyun’s head.

 

Chanyeol finishes cooking and brings the noodles to his small table. Baekhyun is in such a daze that he doesn’t process what is happening.

 

“It’s not too warm you can eat it now.” Chanyeol hands him a bowl full of tasty instant Ramyeon with veggies.

Baekhyun does not hear him. He is still baffled by his discovery, too shocked to function properly. He likes Chanyeol ….? Moreover, he LOVES him ?! When Chanyeol curiously looks up to him, their eyes meet and Baekhyun can’t fight the butterflies fluttering in his belly. Feeling his lips tugging downward, he acknowledges that … okay, he’s stressing out. He didn’t know why he was anxious around Chanyeol lately. It was weird and he feels weirded out even now. Especially since he didn’t use to think his best friend was THIS attractive. Not to the point of turning heads, not to the point of turning _his_ head. Especially not at that time of his life, when he’s got literally NOTHING figured out. How did he fall in love with him ?

 

Damn it. He adores his friend, despite this new knowledge ; but this pill is hard to swallow. Moreover, despite being adults, they are too young and too stupid. Baekhyun is not ready to be in love in real life.

 

Pretending to be good at giving love advice was way more convenient, and now that he needs some —and he needs someone to stop him from freaking out— he learns that love is difficult indeed. He slurps his noodles, once again completely missing the concerned look on Chanyeol’s face.

 

He realises he spent less and less time with his best friend as well, and kind of neglected him. Nothing can compare to the amount of guilt he is feeling at the moment. Which is a lot, since he loves to exaggerate things.

 

He ponders over what he should do from now on, but when nothing comes to his mind, he decides to play other otome games to distract himself. He deletes many apps off his phone to make more space for those cheesy shoujo games. He even downloads one where the main character is a girl. Baekhyun doesn’t care. He enjoys playing these games for the interactions not -only- because of the attractiveness of the characters.

 

He realises he finds things in common with every love interest in his games. Be it “Prince of Charms”, “Wolf Boyfriend”, “Royalty affairs”, .. all his love interests in those games have something in common. Baekhyun dramatically gasps at the eye opening realisation… he was reminded of his best friend in every love interest ! That’s the reason why he dated them, he was searching comfort in this.

 

Chanyeol is like a prince, like a soulmate, he is the charming man Baekhyun has been in likes with since… a long time. It’s cheesy and Baekhyun knows it but he can’t stop himself. Playing games adds something in his dull, monotonous life and allows him to escape the sad reality : His love life is non-existent because Chanyeol doesn’t see him that way. But it’s okay, if he at least has him as his friend. As long as Chanyeol is by his side, Baekhyun thinks his life’s equilibrium is good.

 

But who is he kidding ? He should _stop lying to himself_ ; it is hard. It’s true that sometimes he feels like he’s restraining himself not to melt into a puddle of goo when Chanyeol is being cute, or when his best friend is talking animatedly with their group of friends. He sometimes focuses so much on Chanyeol that everything else becomes blurry, and he only has the happy glint of Chanyeol’s eyes in mind. So, he tries not to, and goes back to his phone, as if he were escaping. He is scared and does not know better :  he plays his game and constantly talks about Loey. That way, it seems like he is not thinking about Chanyeol.

 

 _Chanyeol doesn’t know why_ he feels so upset as he goes back home the same evening. He was supposed to crash at his best friend’s place, but unfortunately, he couldn’t stand being ignored. He cut the conversation short and hurried to finish his noodles. After he got tired of Baekhyun being unresponsive and ignoring him as he played on his phone, he told him he would go home. Baekhyun suddenly stopped him and asked him to watch a movie. But during the movie, he was blabbering again and again about Loey’s perfect looks, perfect personality… And such. It pisses him off to no extent, and he doesn't know why and not knowing why is worse than anything. ‘Stupid Loey’, Chanyeol thinks as he sighs tiredly. He has always wondered, why doesn’t Baekhyun get over his shyness and get an offline boyfriend. He knows Baekhyun has extraordinary standards, but every time he asks him why, he gets the same old answer : a huff and a “I don’t have time for that.” He _could_ make time, Chanyeol thinks. But _of course_ , Baekhyun seems to prefer blabbering about the soon to be released kokoatalk stickers of his stupid love simulation game.

 

Meanwhile, Baekhyun brings his hand up to cover his wide-opened mouth, still in shock. He goes through a short introspection moment, and stares blankly at the wall in front of him. He can still feel remnants of the taller’s presence in his room.

 

After getting up and deciding to get his act together, Baekhyun opens his phone’s gallery to look at all the pictures of Chanyeol he has, to compare him with Loey. He mostly has selfies they took together, or pictures of a derp face of Chanyeol, or even of him sleeping. Baekhyun giggles as he scrolls through the numerous pictures of the both of them, Chanyeol with others or just of himself. His friend is so cute and he has to keep himself from gushing about it. Chanyeol is way more attractive than Loey, of course. How he hadn’t realised how handsome his best friend is before, will forever remain a mystery.

 

He briefly thinks about the possibilities, and worries. Chanyeol is really attractive, what if he suddenly got popular and someone snatched him away ? Since Baekhyun always had the privilege of having him close, he doesn’t know what it would be like if, one day, Chanyeol chose to give his heart to someone else to keep.  Chanyeol is tall, and Baekhyun knows he would look good with some male model next to him.

 

Baekhyun needs to see Chanyeol to figure out more about his feelings. Even if he ignored him - purposely- this evening, he knows it’s because his games are a way for him to evasively bury his feelings instead of dealing with it. That night, he craves his best friend and texts him to say sorry.  

 

11:09 PM

Yeolee, I’m sorry :(

 

He receives no answer. But his message is marked as read.

 

He sees him the next day, when Chanyeol and Kasper come for a surprise-visit at his flat. When they come income in, Baekhyun throws himself at Chanyeol, which surprises Kasper.

 

“I’m sorry Yeolee” Baekhyun pouts, “It’s okay Baek, but please don’t ignore me next time. If you…wanna talk, I’m always there.” Both of them smile, and just like that, they make up. Kasper only watches them smugly.

 

———

 

“It’s-it’s not true! I could quit anytime!” He blurts. Chanyeol has been confronting him about his supposedly ‘ _game addiction_ ’, **again**. ‘Can’t you stop and let me be happy?’ Baekhyun frustratingly thinks, and he wants to complain but somehow, he knows there is something wrong with how he thinks about Loey and his other boyfriends. They’re not real. Kasper hasn’t said much ever since they arrived. He stands in the corner as a witness to their upcoming...argument ?

 

What a peculiar spring break, Kasper thinks, looking as if _he were on The Office._

 

“Oh really?” Chanyeol counters. He doesn’t believe one word of that. Baekhyun doesn’t want anyone touching his phone, how could he drop his games overnight ?

 

“Yes! I just dont wanna quit now, I mean it’s a good distraction from school and stress of being a student and all.”

 

“Pfff. Are you kidding me?” he begins in a low voice. “Baek, you’re barely working. I never see you in university, and I doubt that your professors even know what you look like. I know you only show up to mandatory classes.” Chanyeol inhales and exhales tiredly, before carrying on to jab at Baekhyun’s ego. “Besides our friends and I, which, mind you, aren’t in your year, you don’t have anyone else. So you can’t pull that busy and stressed out card on me, Baek.” He challenges. And it’s true, that if he didn’t visit Baekhyun, the latter would certainly never leave his home at all.

 

Chanyeol came to know that Baekhyun lied to his family, saying he goes to class (“No biggie, Yeol. Everyone skips. And, of course, I won’t tell them I’m playing hooky !”). He’s been spending most of his allowance money on games, computer equipments too. The situation is ringing alarms in Chanyeol’s head .

 

It has reached a point when, the only times Baekhyun leaves his apartment is to get instant noodles and games. On some weeks, like on holidays, Baekhyun’s lifestyle becomes more alarming.

 

“It’s good to pass time ! Besides, I’m only playing these games because I need a distraction. My life isn't that exciting, Yeol. When it’ll get more interesting, I will stop playing.” Baekhyun articulates, as to make a point. He knows he is a bit addicted to these games, but, “Yeol, before you interrupt me, listen. You’re not my parent. I understand your concern, but geez ! I’m okay, I just enjoy playing these for fun ok?”

 

Chanyeol can only shake his head in bewilderment. That virtual life Baekhyun has won’t do him any good. He can’t fathom imagining what would happen if Baekhyun found the virtual world more appealing than the real world. The simple thought of that makes his stomach churn in worry and anxiety.

 

“If you say so.” he drops the subject for now.

 

They chill all afternoon, doing nothing but talking, eating some food they ordered and watching movies. That same evening, Kasper and Chanyeol are still over at Baekhyun’s place, and to his best friend’s disappointment, they don’t watch Black Mirror. Chanyeol has some sort of hope that watching an episode or two of this show might open Baekhyun’s eyes to the reality of his habits, but if his friend doesn’t want to, he can’t force him.

 

They start to watch the movie ‘Her’, and at some point it’s so calm that Chanyeol looks back at the end of the couch where Baekhyun is seated, only to be disappointed when he sees him still handling his phone. He turns his head towards Baekhyun’s middle-sized TV, as the character of the movie utters “I’ve been thinking about, how I could possibly tell you how much you mean to me”.

 

Chanyeol looks back at Baekhyun. For some reason, he feels dejected.

“Baekhyun, you…” he starts. His voice cracks a little. But Baekhyun is too busy giggling stupidly over his virtual boyfriend to even hear him. Of course, he’d pay no mind to a movie that could wake him up. Of course.

“Baek ?” Kasper ventures.

No response.

Chanyeol and Kasper look at each other with concern. They can’t believe Baekhyun didn’t even notice they were talking to him !

 

Chanyeol, although hesitant, reassuringly -or he thinks he looks reassuring- shakes his head at Kasper, as if to say it’s okay. ’I got it’ he mouths.

 

Chanyeol scoots closer to Baekhyun, waiting patiently for the smaller one to notice his presence. But Baekhyun doesn’t seem to. After a minute, he closed the distance, only about 50 centimeters separates him from his face now, eyeing him closely. Baekhyun feels someone-Chanyeol- burning a hole through his face so he mutters “What?”, pretending to be too engrossed in his game to look up. But that’s not the reason why he does not dare look at Chanyeol. His ears, face, neck, everything feels suddenly hot, and he doesn’t know why Chanyeol’s just sitting _too close._

That’s disturbing and it confuses Baekhyun.

 

“Nothin’.” Chanyeol mutters, before looking back at the tv.

 

The rest of the evening is spent this way : Kasper and Chanyeol finish watching the movie, bidding goodbye to Baekhyun who finally stopped playing, before going back home.

 

After realizing he is in love with Chanyeol, Baekhyun finds himself dealing with his new feelings. And he thinks love is too complicated. He’s pining on Chanyeol, _hard_. He finds himself staring at his handsome best friend way too often, and blushes when he gets caught staring. Does Chanyeol notice Baekhyun blushes when he gets close to him or whenever they touch ? If he does, it doesn’t show.

 

Of course, Baekhyun has had a crush on someone before : If he can remember right, that would be only … two, maybe one time. There was this guy he met at a party a few months after starting university, Zitao. He was a tall guy, who seemed a bit intimidating at first sight but after Baekhyun talked to him, he realised how sweet he is. Baekhyun had found him really attractive, with his multiple earrings and his stylish looks, Tao was the ideal handsome “rebel” boyfriend, the kind of guy Baekhyun would do anything for…

 

When during their first year, Tao and him were in the same major, and he sometimes felt _something_ for the taller, but it did not lead to anything. Although they quickly hit it off, it was only as friends to the sadness of Baekhyun who had instantly harbored a crush on him. At that time, he and Baekhyun had been seeing each other literally every single day because they shared the same exact classes, but they only were friends. He did not confess and although he never made it clear that he was interested, Tao apologized when he got the message. He adored Baekhyun, however ‘he would not be able to see him ’that’ way.’

 

They remained friends, since Tao was not burdened by Baekhyun’s feelings. Had he not been already fond of otome games, maybe he would’ve tried something—’ _like… seducing him’_.

 

Baekhyun repressed his tiny crush on Tao until it faded away.

 

They lost touch with each other,  after a while, even though Zitao still smiled and waved at him if he saw him in their uni’s hallways.

 

He shakes his head, smiling amusingly at his memory of his first crush before Chanyeol. He can tell the difference between what he feels for his best friend and what he felt back then for Tao. What was a harmless crush on physical appearance back then, can’t compare to the ardor of his attraction to Chanyeol. With the intensity of his feelings, he does not think he could handle being apart from his best friend, let alone confess his love to him and be rejected.

 

Baekhyun would rather wait for it to pass —it always does— so that he can move on from his _disturbing_ infatuation.

 

‘Bobohu18 !’. Thankfully, a banner shows up on his phone’s screen stealing his attention away from his thoughts.

 

Baekhyun’s phone is saturated by unchecked notifications, from his numerous otome games in just a few hours, as his phone was left unattended. He taps on “Hot summer : Finding my true Love” ‘s icon to open the app. New articles of clothing have been added to the shop : Odidos track clothes —he smiles at the reference, oversized sweats,...clothing that looks just like the trending clothes these days, he buys them all. After playing for hours, he has become better and he’s earned more money than ever.

 

6: Tonight, as it’s a normal night, the student just finished eating his ordered hawaiian pizza, while chilling in the comfort of his home as he plays. He is extremely excited. Spread out on his bed, he holds his phone as “Hot Summer : Finding my true love” starts. Yesterday’s update of the game added new routes to win over the game. A few more characters have been added, as well as more clothes and hairstyles. He waits for a few seconds for the new features to load, and buys accessories. Baekhyun is having fun switching his clothes, sporting a new red hair colour, but something feels off. He sits up from his bed, his blanket falling in the process. His excitement dropped.

 

He isn’t being as enthusiastic about the game as before.

 

“What changed ?” He muses.

 

For once, Baekhyun gets bored while playing. As Loey plays the violin for him in the background, he finds himself wishing Chanyeol were here with him.

 

Loey takes his hand and asks him if he wants to take a walk in the gardens. Somehow, flirting with Loey doesn’t seem half as appealing as it usually is. He accepts to go outside ‘Lead the way’, Baekhyun chooses. But a second after, he quits the app, locks his phone and throws it away, landing with a thud on the floor.

 

_What… ?_

 

And it’s like all of a sudden, Baekhyun realised his fleeting thoughts. He knows all too well what his heart wants, and he’s in -profound- love with Chanyeol.

 

“Oh no.”

 

Baekhyun hastily removes the blanket that was covering him, before switching his laptop off. He stays still for a minute, in complete silence. However, he can’t stand listening to his thoughts. _‘Just why am I thinking so much?’_ He doesn’t want to bear being in absolute silence, with only companion himself at this moment. He needs a distraction, he needs a screen. He unlocks his phone again to open his manga reading app. Baekhyun is reading the latest chapter of _20 days,_ the slowest-built manhua ever in his opinion, when his doorbell suddenly rings. He is not expecting anyone, but the curiosity urges him to quickly get up to answer the door.

To his utter surprise, he finds a grinning Zitao. “Byun !”

“Zitao ?” He collects himself from the shock as quickly as possible “Um hi ! What… brings you here ?” Baekhyun is sure he has some pizza sauce on his cheek and... he just wasn’t expecting him.

 

How did Tao know where he lives anyway ? Not every student lives in this building, even if it is located ten minutes away from campus. In fact, there are only a few students living there.

 

“I’m having a party for my birthday. It’s on May 2nd, remember ?” Tao winks as he leans against Baekhyun’s door.

 

“You came all the way here to invite me to your party?” Baekhyun blurts (for lack of other words). He wonders why Zitao, who —even if they used to be really close in the past—never hangs out with him, came all the way to ask him to come. He wants to tell him he could have just sent him a message.

 

Tao pointedly ignores his question and grins, which makes Baekhyun feel bizarre. ”Anyway, you can bring anyone ! The more the merrier… Oh ! Why don’t you come with Park Chanyeol ?”, Tao insinuates, in what seems to be a teasing tone. “Hm, hm? Come along with Chanyeol ! I haven’t seen him in ages.You guys are best friends, right ?” He smiles way too much for it to be natural.

 

At this point, Baekhyun is really, really, unsettled. Although he knows it’s time he sees some real people —watching too many screens has been hurting his eyes lately, the whole ordeal seems fishy. Or maybe it’s just his intuition telling him not to go; either way Baekhyun is —

 

“Sorry ! I can’t go, I already have an engagement. But have a nice evening, see you around, Zitao.” And with that, Baekhyun sends an embarrassed smile and closes his door.

 

 _Weird_.

 

Since Chanyeol has been willing for them to go camping with his other friends, Baekhyun considers his refusal as something reasonable. At least, now he can bring up the first week of May to go on that trip, as a date to consider.

 

After Tao leaves, Baekhyun goes back to playing on his phone. Once again, he notices it’s a helpful way to get rid of unwanted thoughts.

 

“Can I take you home?” His in-game boyfriend is asking him.

“Yes !” He clicks, feeling giddy. Then his tiny smile is replaced by a frown and a pout as he remembers that real life Chanyeol, his best friend, would never ask him something like that.. not that way, anyway. He briefly wonders if Chanyeol likes someone ? He would have told him if he did, would he not ?

 

Of course, both are too cowardly to ever mention their crush on each other. What they seem to ignore is that our jealousies and obsessions can tell us a lot about what we really want.

 

\--

 

It’s hard to keep pretending he isn't affected by the slightest things Chanyeol does : he has all these small habits that Baekhyun suddenly -or maybe it was always there- finds so adorable. He didn’t use to care at all when, his best friend talks and looks for words, hums because he finds some food delicious, or when he’s with their friends and they laugh. Now, he finds himself staring and grinning at Chanyeol, and only him, mesmerized by the taller’s laugh and smiling face. As he stares at him, he is reminded of how their friendship used to be when they were in high school. They share so many memories. Just like they often did at the time, today they’re shopping at the mall. They became very close in Senior year and he is secretly thankful Chanyeol stayed his friend when he became what people would call a _fudanshi_. Even when his friend saw his life-sized Yuri On Ice pillow, he never left him or made fun of him for being an otaku. He knows that Chanyeol doesn’t approve of his current lifestyle, but the taller never made a move to distance himself from him and for this, he feels nothing short of blessed. Baekhyun cringes as he can’t help but notice how natural it feels when they hold hands. They still do that, when they walk sometimes. He doesn’t find it weird because they’ve been walking and holding hands for years.

Except that now, Baekhyun’s hand isn’t holding Chanyeol’s but is holding his phone to play. When they go shopping, which has become quite rare, they either hold hands in the mall -they do it “not to lose each other” as they’d both say to defend themselves when they notice Junmyeon silently accusing them of… something by raising his eyebrow- or Chanyeol guides Baekhyun, who isn’t watching where he is heading because his eyes are fixed on his phone.

 

This is going to far, Chanyeol silently thinks. He mentally asks Baekhyun, why is he so difficult ?

Chanyeol is well aware that their friends sometimes send them looks, as if to say “are you kidding me” as he has his arm draped over Baekhyun’s shoulder when they walk, or when he holds him in the elevators so the smaller one of them won’t get lost or bump into people. They’re physically close like that. They’ve always been, that’s why Baekhyun being so addicted to his games saddens Chanyeol a lot, because he isn’t really here with him when they hang out but focused on his screen instead of his best friend. But little does he know that Baekhyun is freaking out because his heartbeat is so fast. The warmth of Chanyeol’s hand is transfering to his own hand, both of his palms sweating a bit. Honestly, he won’t admit it but he is a bit excited. He knows he shouldn’t feel timid about this, as Chanyeol loves to display their friendship.

 

At some point during their shopping, Chanyeol gets pissed off by the sound of the notifications from all the other games on Baekhyun’s phone. He is upset, getting angrier by the minute because of those awful ’ding!’ sounds, that Baekhyun unconsciously believes means that he isn't spending enough time playing on his phone. However, he does not act upon his thoughts, and he contains himself. _‘Do not get mad. Phew. Keep calm.’_

 

————

 

Everyone gathers their notes as the amphitheater is emptying itself. The lecture just ended, and most students are flowing out quickly to, for the vast majority, buy coffee or go to the toilet for the break. Chanyeol stretches his long limbs and his backbones crack. These seats are the worst in the whole campus, he swears. Kasper carries a plastic cup of coffee with no lid, so everyone in the room can smell the sugar-overdosed drink.

He slurps noisily, which causes Chanyeol to scrunch his eyebrows in annoyance because —can he not?

 

Kasper turns and notices that they’re the only ones left. He swallows a big gulp and turns to him. “So, you like Byun, huh.”

“...”

“...”

“I figure it’s time I accept it, yes. I..-I like Baekhyun.” Chanyeol blinks. He figures that even if he tries to get away from this embarrassing moment, he can’t. He doesn’t think it’s jealousy that he felt all this time. He isn’t just irritated when Baekhyun replaces him with his phone when he wants to hang out.

 

He admits it to himself and at the same time, he admits it to his friend. That’s right, for a few weeks he did not want to accept that he the reason why he is so jealous of Loey was because he loves Baekhyun. He can’t believe he made himself excuses to feed his huge denial. ’How could I resist him one more second ?’

 

Chanyeol remembers watching Baekhyun play one day, and not only does he recall that he felt utterly jealous — jealous and upset— he also admits that yeah, he felt that he wants Baekhyun to smile giddily and blush not because of some virtual guy in his game, but because of…him. Always. Admitting he is jealous also means to Chanyeol that he admits he wants Baekhyun to himself, and himself only. He also always found Baekhyun attractive. He wonders what life would have been like if Baekhyun had chosen to be an idol or something. With his beautiful smile, and angelic voice, he easily could have been _a celebrity in the world’s most popular boy band_.

 

 

But then again, Chanyeol doesn't like to share, and...selfishly, he is glad deep inside that not too many people know just how beautiful his friend is. At school, Baekhyun happens to be the fudanshi-otaku type who hides behind his glasses and his fluffy, non-greasy fringe, harboring the look of your typical geek college student. In Chanyeol’s eyes however, he is ethereal and as handsome as royalty.

 

 

 

He realises then that he has fallen for his best friend. It clicks, and it’s a _sign_.

 

 

Admitting he likes his best friend does not make him feel like he has gotten weight off his shoulders; if anything, Chanyeol feels edgy and his heartbeats accelerate a bit. Frankly, he should have seen it coming, but he didn’t. Being jealous of a game, wanting his best friend’s attention :

 

“Why’re you already acting like a possessive boyfriend ?”

 

“I’m...jealous. It feels like I’m less important than Loey”. Pronouncing its name, _Loey_ leaves a sour taste in his mouth. He came to loathe the game’s character. It’s petty, since it’s basically Baekhyun’s ideal type —but Chanyeol can’t help it. He wishes he were Baekhyun’s boyfriend. He wishes he would be the one courting him, the one who dates him, kisses him, receives his love...

 

“Woah ! Park, you can’t be seriously jealous of a 2D guy ? I mean, that time when you were upset because Baekhyun met this guy from the _PC bang_ and they hung out without you, I understand… But right now ? You can’t be serious, Chanyeol…” He watches his friend’s facial expression before turning serious. “Oh shit.”

 

“I know Baekhyun won’t reciprocate my feelings but… for his sake, I wish he would stop ruining his life with these games.” Chanyeol criticizes and huffs.

 

“Woah..” Kasper confirms. His friends are oblivious. He has noticed over the last few weeks that their feelings for each other grew. They probably both realised they are in love with each other. It is so frustrating to see them being this obvious about their feelings, and yet so oblivious about what the other feels. Chanyeol and Baekhyun are 22 and they still blush like they are 12 years old, when they are around each other.

  
  


They’re on the road, heading to a secret place, and the car has been rolling since early this morning. The group of friends departed early and are finally, making it to that camping trip to Junmyeon’s house. They are travelling in his car, mostly with Chanyeol’s friends. The five men agreed to take breaks every few hours and change drivers a few times. Despite the nice car they are traveling in, no one seems to want to drive in Junmyeon’s vehicle. An hour into the drive, Baekhyun is already glued to his phone. In the car, he and Chanyeol are sitting next to each other.

 

Baekhyun has not held a real conversation with Junmyeon or Minseok - Chanyeol’s friends and classmates - before, but he just about knows them. Chanyeol has this habit of talking about his life all the time, so it helps him recall some details about Junmyeon’s family or Minseok bossing him around when they have group projects to do. However, he knows Jongdae much better for instance.

 

It isn’t until Junmyeon threatens to confiscate his phone that Baekhyun finally lets his virtual boyfriend alone and goes back to the real world. The internet connection got so bad so he couldn’t play anyway. He’s a bit ashamed to be scolded by Chanyeol’s friend, and he makes himself smaller.

 

He tries to sleep, but the music is keeping him from doing so, so he settles for watching the varying view through his window. The landscape is passing by Baekhyun’s eyes so fast, that all he can make out of his blurry vision are green and brown shapes, or trees. When he gets tired of gazing out his window, he turns to Chanyeol who’s busy nodding his head to the music, reverberating from the speakers of Junmyeon’s car. Baekhyun tries to get his attention by hooking his finger into the rip of his best friend’s jeans. The almond eyed man does not move or even react at all. He is not ticklish on his knees, so tickles don’t do the trick.

 

He ends up randomly drawing letters on Chanyeol’s tigh with his fingers. The sensasion _is_ a bit weird and ticklish, if the taller admits it, since Chanyeol doesn’t recognize what Baekhyun writes.

But it isn’t awkward because Baekhyun is usually touchy when he isn’t busy with his phone. Chanyeol shrugs it off…until his curiosity gets the best of him and he wants to decipher what Baekhyun is writing.

ㄴ ㅇ ㅌ ㅓ ? That does look like his mother tongue, but it’s meaningless. Chanyeol gets it all wrong.

 

Baekhyun writes LOEY.

 

Thankfully, Chanyeol does not realise it.

 

They arrive at Junmyeon’s beautiful wooden cabin around four in the afternoon. The little house is surrounded by trees, and nestled in a valley, at the bottom of a mountain, and everyone is gaping in awe at the view of the valley it offers. They set their things down, and eat as soon as they arrive.

 

Junmyeon’s cabin is not that big, conflicting with what Chanyeol previously told Baekhyun. As besides a washroom, wc, and a small kitchenette there is no more than two small rooms, only one of them containing a big bed. Junmyeon, Minseok and Jongdae win at rock paper scissors so two of the three get to share the bed of the first room. The single couch is occupied by Minseok, while Baekhyun and Chanyeol will have to sleep on the floor of the other room— on a carpet. Miraculously, Chanyeol had thought of the possibility of them not having blankets to cover themselves with beforehand, thus he brought his double sleeping bag.

 

When they are done deciding what the sleeping arrangements will be, they all shower and decide that today is going to be spent wandering about.

 

A walk in the forest to ‘restore’ their energy is what Minseok proposes, and everyone follows suit. “No one takes their phone !” warns Jongdae as he glances at Baekhyun. One thing Baekhyun knows he has to overcome is getting worked up by his friends’ concern. He does not want to hear that he has to ‘fix’ his problem.

The group begins their journey, hiking deeper into the forest that surrounds their cabin. It is still before 5 PM when they leave, so they can still hear the enchanting chirping of birds as if the animals were keeping them company. Minseok breaks the peaceful silence that had settled upon the five students when he begins, “I used to go out for walks every day and I kinda miss this. I liked walking alone in the early morning, not being bothered by anyone else's company.” He pauses for a few seconds and they all think he has stopped talking but, “I used to wake up at 5 AM everyday to go on these walks and I was much happier.”

“What Hyung’s saying is true”, adds Jongdae “walking in the forest is the best way to unwind. You also start to notice little details, helping you start your day the right way…You get to forget about your problems and relax.”  

He looks up and smiles at the cerulean sky.  

“Walking in the morning is a very good habit. Even when I feel lazy in the morning, I force myself to leave the house because I know that once I am on my way I will enjoy every minute of my morning walk. You should try it sometime !” Junmyeon points out and looks at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun would have raised an eyebrow and participated to the conversation, had he not felt like being silent is more relaxing. Besides, he gets to think about his friendship with Chanyeol, and how his best friend and him behave when they’re with other people compared to when they are alone. Making it possible for him to notice, it _is_ different from usual. It’s tenser. Or he might just be imagining it ? It also seems like Chanyeol’s friends, Minseok and Junmyeon, are analyzing him and it isn’t a good feeling. For some reason, they end up talking about love and relationships. Out of the five of them, only Chanyeol and Baekhyun never dated anyone. Junmyeon who was walking a bit ahead, comes to Baekhyun to investigate. “So Baekhyun, what about you ?”  
“What about me ?”  
“I was wondering what your ideal type is like ? And how can you still be single ? I know you’re a fan of dating games, but with looks like yours like yours, it shouldn’t be that difficult. Have you seen yourself ?”  
  
’Am I being judged right now ?’ He wonders.  
  
“My ideal type is someone who is kind to me, a guy who compliments me  and puts me first. Someone charming who only has eyes for me…He has to be good-looking too…And um, appreciate me for being me.” he shyly mutters as they walk. After he answers, Chanyeol comes to his right and smoothly joins in on their conversation. “So you think if someone does nice things and is handsome they are boyfriend material ? That’s quite easy to find, though, right ? Kinda like when you date your cell phone.”

Baekhyun’s jaw clenches and he makes a show of rolling his eyes at the disrespect. “Well… I guess it is. But I’d need to get to know him better. Why are you even asking, Chanyeol ? Is my playing otome games a problem to you ?” Baekhyun wonders what brought up this bitterness, “You never had anything against my boyfriends before.”

Minseok stands as a witness to their bickering, and everyone looking at them would notice how the two best friends look like a bickering couple, with the taller one being overly jealous. He stops walking to pout in jealousy, longingly gazing at Baekhyun’s back. Junmyeon who noticed their arguing and Chanyeol’s pining can’t help but shake his head. It’s obvious those two have feelings for each other. They continue to chat from time to time, although silence is mostly taking over. Yet, those two are overly oblivious.

 

When they get back, it’s dark and they are all laughing and smiling. True to Minseok’s words, a walk in a forest near a mountain is something each of them never knew they needed until now. Walking and being surrounded by nothing but calm and trees, no disturbance, is amazing. It’s pretty late and stars appear in the now royal blue sky. To Baekhyun’s surprise, he does not miss Loey or any of his games when they walk. At the start of their walk, he thought he would be impatient to get back to the cabin to play; but as they reach the cabin on the way back, he finds himself wanting to carry on walking in this calm _realm-like_ forest. He would gladly have stayed outside, too.

For dinner the five friends eat what little food Junmyeon’s cabin provided them with : tin canned vegetables. (“I thought someone would have brought food?!”) and best-before past-the-expirying-date rice. They all cook together and eat on the floor, listening to music. They’re being young and wild, and Baekhyun finds himself enjoying this moment with his -new-friends a lot. When the night falls and everyone is too tired to stay awake, they bid each other goodnight and all retire to their rooms to sleep.

 

Chanyeol follows Baekhyun to their room, and closes the door behind them.

 

At the sight of the double sleeping bag, which looks like a couple item, Baekhyun raises his eyebrow. “Since when do you own such a thing ?”

“It’s my sister’s.”

“Yoora’s ? Yoora Noona owns _this ?_ ” Baekhyun gaps. “Why did you ask her to lend it to you ? If you’d have told me, I could’ve taken my own sleeping bag, Yeolee.”

“...” Chanyeol chooses to stay silent and blankly stares at Baekhyun as the latter gets in the sleeping bag, tapping the spot next to him as if to say ‘join me’. Baekhyun is wearing his blue pajamas that matches Chanyeol’s, and he wonders if he has noticed. Seeing that Chanyeol is unresponsive and stands still, Baekhyun rolls to his side and rests his head in his hand. He is smiling smugly, proud that his scheme worked, he managed to render his friend speechless. “What ? Are you shy ? You don’t wanna get under the cover with me?” he boldly teases, wiggling his eyebrows in a wave and hoping Chanyeol won’t read too much into it.

Chanyeol inwardly groans. “It’s meant for a couple, but it’ll have to do... unless you don’t want to share it with me ? Then you can go sleep on the floor, in the cold and on your own, Baek. Like a corpse.” he mutters, sullen, before slipping next to him and with his long arm, he reaches to the light and switches it off. Only the rustling of the sheets, as they both make themselves comfortable, can be heard.

“Tskk” Baekhyun only huffs indignantly, and shares the large sleeping bag with his friend. Was this remark really necessary ? He had already gotten under the big cover.

Darkness surrounds them, and except Baekhyun and his’ in-sync breathing, Chanyeol cannot hear a sound. He sighs, as he mulls over the fact that his right shoulder burns. _He_ touched him right there. His best friend affectionately rested his hand on his shoulder earlier when they were cooking Junmyeon’s sad excuse for canned food. It’s still tingling...but Baekhyun did not hurt him at all. Moping and pining like this, will not get him anywhere, that he knows, but he can’t help himself.

“Are you sleeping ?” He mutters after awhile.

“No…”

“Did you like it today ?” He turns his head to a dozing Baekhyun. “Was this trip any fun for you ?”

“Um.” He yawns cutely, “it was nice.”

“Then I’m happy.” Chanyeol whispers solow, he is not sure Baekhyun heard him. One second later, his best friend replies with “Me too. I’m happy too.” It’s dark but Baekhyun can almost make out the shape of Chanyeol’s face. He thinks about his addiction, and almost whimpers in realisation. Today, especially when they had that walk in the forest, he did not miss Loey at all. He hasn’t even checked his phone ever since they left. It means that if he is with Chanyeol, if he is with his friends, then he can live without it. This game loses all importance when he enjoys the moment. He feels grateful for _truly_ realizing this, and it leaves a tingling sensation in his stomach.

 

On the other hand, Chanyeol is wondering if Baekhyun is fine being away from his addiction for so long, if he is okay right now. Today he noticed that he seemed happier than he usually looks, after all. On top of that, he didn’t reach for his phone immediately after they got back to the cabin earlier, which means the device, he is so addicted to, is still resting with the others’. That night, the both of them do some thinking. Recently, they both have been thinking long and hard about their friendship. For instance, _why_ are they interested in each other ?

 

“Yah ! What do you think you’re doing you cold goof !?” Baekhyun whisper-shouts. The night’s cold, sent a series of shivers down Chanyeol’s spine, making him yearn for warmth. Hence, the taller chooses to slip his feet, a bit forcefully so, between his friend’s because, “You-You’re warm and I’m freezing. Also, it’s frigging 3AM so God help me and let me do this. Please, Baek. Good night”. Then he turns his back to Baekhyun, his cold feet still touching his. Baekhyun blinks before letting this one go. After a dozen minutes passed by, Chanyeol's feet have gotten a bit warmer, and he turns to Baekhyun again. He is warm enough to stop stealing Baekhyun’s warmth, but as he sees his friend dozing off, he boldly entangles their legs, locking their knees, putting his right leg under Baekhyun’s left leg.

He brings his hand to cover his mouth and keep himself from letting out a giggle that would disturb Baekhyun’s sleep. Chanyeol can’t help but think that they probably look like a cuddly couple in a worm-house-like sleeping bag. His face is heating up, he knows he’s certainly blushing a lot, but no one will ever know. Baekhyun has not actually fallen asleep yet, but he is on the verge to succumb. He is way too exhausted from their adventurous day to take note of their closeness, though. They wonder what it would be like to date each other, before they fall into a peaceful, deep sleep sharing this ‘couple sleeping bag’, as if they were a real couple.

 

That night, Chanyeol and Baekhyun sleep, their hands brushing against each other’s, their legs entangled.

 

They head back home, on the next afternoon, and although no one mentions it, the five friends feel like they stepped in a place where time was not relevant, and that they now have to step back into a world full of stress, problems, and responsibilities. In Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s case, a world full of feelings they have to hide and addictions.

 

True to those words, they do fall into their strange routine again. Chanyeol still is the one visiting Baekhyun, they still eat together at the cafeteria and spend most evenings at the latter’s house since it is closer to their university. The otome game-addict has made progress in his game, and Chanyeol now definitely thinks that game addictions _ruin_ your life. He challenges Baekhyun one day, as they meet up at school this one morning, asking him “I bet you can’t stay one day free of your games.”

“What should we bet on ?”

 

Though Baekhyun, for once, tries not to play in his free time. He, unfortunately, miserably fails at the task, when he finds himself bored during a free period and can’t stop himself from checking his phone. ‘Why is no one talking to me ? Where did Yifan disappear to?’ he wonders gloomily. At some point, he mechanically takes his phone off of his lap to play his games. He is more self conscious of his habits than before. Old habits die hard and he too begins to think that games addictions aren’t that cool to deal with. However, he thinks that he can’t depend too much on others, even Chanyeol. He doesn’t want to burden his friend, and is afraid that he’ll be disappointed if Chanyeol becomes unreliable after having had enough of him. No one owes him anything, and he knows it. The student simply guesses, and he does not want to get his hopes up. How can he get out of his obsession ? After all, if he can’t have Chanyeol in real life, the 2D version is a comforting substitute. But when he thinks about his crush’s opinion about his game addiction, Baekhyun would much rather suffer than disappoint his friend. Disappointing him or causing him pain is not an option. Lately, things have been peculiar (for lack of better word). Ever since their trip to the cabin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun constantly find themselves making lots of eye-contacts. Too much, if you’d ask them.

 

It escalates and it quickly feels awkward for the both of them. On the first days of the week, the two are silently eating at the school cafeteria, when Baekhyun looks at Chanyeol. He appreciates watching him eat and enjoy his food. Baekhyun can’t help but look at him lovingly. The taller munches and separates his food into categories, to eat it in the right order : From his least favorite to his most favorite; Baekhyun thinks it’s a cute habit. Neither of them even realises he stopped eating, his chopsticks frozen in mid-air, until Chanyeol feels a gaze burning a hole in his face. He looks up, and they maintain eye contact for a few seconds. Chanyeol’s big questioning eyes boring into Baekhyun's droopy ones. Both of them look away at the same time and the room suddenly feels too hot.

 

This kind of a situation happens a lot, until it reaches a point when the tension is at its peak.

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s friendship might be straining, but thankfully still they have their occasional traditions, like having a movie night every once in a while. Baekhyun invited him to watch a movie up in his room and who is he to refuse when his geek of a best friend is always busy prioritising his games over their friendship ? Lately, Chanyeol feels not ’taken care of’, their friendship is maybe not as strong as it was, he thinks. ’Shall I take part of the blame too ?’ In fact, he seldom initiates outings with Baekhyun anymore. He blames it on being too busy with school and the fact that they do not share the same major… But he also knows it’s because he wants Baekhyun to ask him to come over for something, other than games or movies. He’ll usually go to Baekhyun’s place and then order a pizza whilst Baekhyun chooses something for them to watch.

 

Like typical students, their free time is often spent watching shows or movies. As usual, they agree on a comedy, and start watching it comfortably. Chanyeol excuses himself fifteen minutes later, when his phone rings, right before the movie gets interesting. He mentions to Baekhyun to continue watching the movie and not to pause it. The latter nods.

 

It’s not even 10 yet, and it is friday night, they don’t have any classes tomorrow and he would have gladly accepted to play a few bowling rounds with his friends who are calling for him, “Come on, Chan, there’s everyone here ! The entire group. You can bring your friend if you want.” He can hear laughs and nice music in the background. Chanyeol knows all too well that if he comes back in and asks Baekhyun to go out, he would accept, but he would do so reluctantly. Even if he knows they would win —not surprisingly, considering his skills— Chanyeol knows Baek is more of a home-body person.

 

He’d go along with his friends’ plans if not for knowing that if he does, then he will also have to bring Baekhyun back home if he wants to leave, since the midget doesn't even have a car or a driving licence. He tells his friends he will pass on, on this one. He hangs up, and makes his way back into the living room…only to find his best friend is not paying attention to the movie anymore. Of course. Baekhyun even said earlier that he would trade the world for his virtual boyfriend, Loey, to be real and be his real boyfriend. And er, well, really ?

He admits it, it’s frustrating. It is so frustrating to be in love with his oblivious best friend, Byun Baekhyun.

 

’Bobohu18, we’ve got a problem…!’ Protests Kai. The character is seemingly panicking, and sweaty.

’Someone broke into the mansion and everyone’s precious belongings have been missing !’ Sehoon insists, ’You’ve got to do something ! Loey’s in town, he is not aware of the break in ! Please, go and inform him of what happened in here. The others and I have to take a look at the damages and call the police.’

 

 

“What a plot twist.”, Baekhyun whispers in amazement. It’s his first time experiencing a game this interesting. There even was a break-in ! Who could have done it ? He wonders.

 

’Go to town’ he touches the screen, and after a few taps here and there, Loey’s charming face appears. He will have to break the news to him. ’Hey there, what are you doing here ?’, he imagines Chanyeol’s deep voice saying that sentence. His options are ’We have been robbed!’ ’*cry and jump into Loey’s arms*’ and ’I have something important to tell you…’

 

In the meantime, Chanyeol has gotten back to his seat next to Baekhyun, who isn’t paying any attention to his surroundings anymore; and he is swearing under his breath. He deserves to receive at least a look of acknowledgment. In his fantasies, Chanyeol daydreams of Baekhyun being not only his best friend, but also his lover, his boyfriend, all at once. He wants to be the one person that shares his life with Baekhyun. He believes he would make a great lover, since he knows his strengths and his weaknesses. He could help him through his obsession with Otome games and show him that he can be there for him. Chanyeol would be the only man Baekhyun looks at. And most importantly ?, he for one is real. Can Loey hold him in his arms for real ? Can Loey kiss him like he would, if they were real lovers ? The frustration is so upsetting, that he huffs in discontentment. Chanyeol realises he is screwed, he loves the smaller man way too much. Right now, he only wants to take his phone away from him, throw it on the floor and have Baekhyun all for himself. But he settles with crossing his arms and impatiently tapping his feet as well.

 

“Aren’t you tired to spend all your free time dating this thing ?” It’s a brutal way to say this, but Chanyeol is tired of being ignoring the problem.

 

Baekhyun locks his phone, and jokes, in a teasing tone to mask his nervousness, “Awh, is our Yeolee jealous now ?”

 

“Yeah I’m jealous ! I feel left out, so what ? S’not like you’re going to stop this game and talk to me.”

 

At this outburst, Baekhyun quiets down and becomes a blushing mess. He wasn’t expecting that. Chanyeol points an accusing finger at his best friend, which causes him to tug his lips down. “And last Tuesday, when we were supposed to eat with Junmyeon hyung...! If I ever find out that you ditched me to play your games…” He eyes him steadily and crosses his arms once again.

 

“I’m not ! I really had things going on !” Baekhyun plainly lies. He cancelled only so that he could stay in bed and play all day. He got to score himself a date with Loey, and it coincidentally lead him to finally kiss Loey and even make out with him in “Hot summer : Finding my true love”. Turns out, he got asked out on the day of the beginning of summer, after diligently choosing to invite Loey to a classical music concert. Loey loves music, after all. _’Just like Chanyeol’,_ Baekhyun grimaces. “Anyway, it’s not like you’re my dad, I effing do not owe you SHIT!” His voice gets higher and he looks horrified.

 

Even he is shocked by his sudden lashing out. He doesn’t know what overtook him. Seconds later, he’s walking out towards the door, but immediately stops when he feels Chanyeol’s hand holding him back.

 

“Wait”

 

“…”

 

Chanyeol is mentally shaking his head in disbelief at his own words. Baekhyun is right, he shouldn’t speak to him in such a condescending tone. What was he thinking ? These days, his emotions don’t seem to go through  his brain and make him act without thinking about it first.

 

“Wait, Baek. I’m sorry.”

 

Baekhyun doesn’t turn to see his expression, but wonders, ’Why does Chanyeol’s voice sound so broken and vulnerable ?’

 

Astounded, he tries to keep his emotions under tight control because he's afraid of how he might fall apart and blurt out all of his feelings for Chanyeol to him, if he doesn't hold back. The urge to get angry at Chanyeol for being right is difficult on him.

 

He finds himself wanting to shout, ’I’m in love with you !’

 

 

 

 

\----

 

 

 

_“I’m so sorry, Baek.”, and Chanyeol hugged him._

 

After his sudden exclamation and Chanyeol’s hug, Baekhyun’s hands felt clammy with sweat.They finished watching the movie, and Chanyeol went home. ‘Did my reaction give it away ?’ Baekhyun wonders. He has taken notice of Chanyeol’s slumped shoulders and distressed look.

 

It’s been a few days, and Baekhyun has been coping with his unwanted emotions and his found crush by playing more of this game. He knowingly distances himself from his best friend in favour of playing “Hot summer : Finding my true love” more. This way, Baekhyun can distract himself and not think too much about how to act around Chanyeol. He recalls their last tense argument. Or _arguments_. Lately, it feels like Chanyeol is overly stressed and sensitive. Whenever he plays on his phone or mentions his game, he gets a reaction out of him. He’s often grumbling, sometimes he mutters things under his breath, and on all the other days he justs glares at the wall. Really he is being very...weird. Baekhyun considers that his best friend’s concerns about his social life are too much of an exaggeration. He wonders if Chanyeol perceived the changes in their friendship as well. Probably not, since he did not reach out to him to try and talk about it. The latter is not that oblivious, though. Chanyeol recently noticed something in Baekhyun has changed. He’s acting…weird. It is not that he is trying to be distant—how could he, when he depends on Chanyeol to eat and stay hydrated so much ?— but it’s just that he seems to be hiding something. That’s his intuition telling him that no matter how many times, Chanyeol will scrutinize him and try to analyze his strange behavior, he won’t ever know what in the world is wrong with his best friend. He is just plain bizarre. Another thing he noticed is how Baekhyun doesn’t hold eye contact with him when they talk. And he used to, as Baekhyun is a very determined person. Before developing his gaming addiction to a point it became unhealthy, he used to be a person who always finished his sentences. He would never let anything, or anyone interrupt him. Now it seems like he lost some of his self-esteem and confidence. But not up to the point of avoiding eye-contact with his best friend, would he ? So Chanyeol assumes that Baekhyun’s games are turning him into a socially anxious guy. Great. He rolls his eyes. ‘It’s tiring to like Baekhyun. Being concerned is tiring…’

 

As is to be expected of the two best friends, the tension continues to experience a consistent growth. Everyone notices, their friends, even themselves can see that at some point, one of them—if not both, will explode. They both bottle up their frustrations and their feelings.

 

\--

 

 

\---

For once, Baekhyun isn’t on his phone. He and Chanyeol are sitting together at Baekhyun’s desk, writing their respective assignments. Or trying to, because it is crystal clear that neither of them is focused, since they catch each other making eye contact every minute or so. Chanyeol thinks it’s time he should seriously confront his best friend about his game addiction. He has no speech prepared and he is not sure he can convey his thoughts smoothly, but he goes for it anyway.

 

“Baekhyun. I have something important to tell you so—please, hear me out. And please let me finish my point.” He inhales deeply and begins, “You’re always prioritizing your games over me !” He doesn’t let Baekhyun talk before adding “I know you might not want to hear this, but please hear me out… I’m so— I’m fucking worried, okay ! I’m worried about you Baek… I don’t understand.. What is going on with you ? Why are you letting this take control over your life ?”

“I’m not.” Baekhyun says in a small voice, worrying his bottom lip. He doesn’t know what to say or do, to explain why he plays those games. It would jeopardize their relationship if Chanyeol realised that he doesn’t see him as a friend anymore but as more than that. He doesn’t want to lose Chanyeol, he can’t afford to. Not when his best friend is the only person who has always been here for him. He doesn’t know what he would do without his presence at his side. He feels a little unsteady on his feet, and looks for a chair to steady himself but in his confusion, he finds nothing. ‘Oh no’ Is he going to cry ?

 

“Baekhyun.” He murmurs.

 

Chanyeol’s eyes soften.

 

“It’s just that…” he begins, “Lately, and by that I mean this past year, you’ve been talking about nothing other than those games, really. Do you realise this? You’ve also been distancing yourself from everyone, and from me. It’s like you’re avoiding me. You’re always on this game, it’s like the phone is an extension of your hand. What is wrong with you ? If you have issues, why haven’t you been telling me, when I’m always by your side ? Why on earth are you playing these games so much, huh?! ” He feels his anger increasing.

 

“They’re not your real boyfriends, Baek, and you know it. They’re effing virtual characters ! Why are you getting so attached to it ? It looks like they’re more important to you than our friendship ! Do you not enjoy being here with us, with me, in the real world ? You want Loey to be here with you, am I not enough ?”

 

Ouch. Baekhyun’s shoulders drop. It hurts, and he knows he is treading in dangerous waters but he cannot let himself be misunderstood like this ! Chanyeol got it all wrong. He wills himself to hold back and listen to what Chanyeol has to say, enduring the feeling of being misunderstood. But he can’t lose this, he can’t let Chanyeol know that. He desperately wants to tell him that’s not it, Chanyeol, that it’s not what it looks like. He wants to tell him the real reason why but there is no way it won’t hurt their friendship.That it’s because he’s craving for love, wanting to love. Love and experience being loved. He firmly believes, it would jeopardize their relationship as it is, and that there is no other way to live this life than to play these games. There is no other way for him to be in a relationship with someone he likes, because he’ll never have the person he likes in the real world, _‘Yeol would never fall in love with me…’_

 

Chanyeol’s eyes are glassy as he pauses to take a breath. The silence is overwhelming, but he asked for Baekhyun to hear him out, until the end, so he carries on.

 

“I’m your best friend for a reason ! Although I’ve told you numerous times that I would be there for you” what he means to say but can bring himself to say is that he I’ll _always_ be there for him “you still don’t rely on me. Do you not trust me anymore ?”

He pronounces the words in such an aggravating tone, that he wants to cry, he just basically implied he loves Baekhyun. Whereas, Baekhyun is restless and gets frustrated. Not only does he experience strong feelings of guilt and hopelessness; he is also distressed.

 

Baekhyun wants to punch his friend in the face because _can’t he see_ ?!

“Listen to me! Listen to me please !” It’s terrifying; he no longer has control over what his mouth is saying, his heart has taken over, and speaks for itself, of its own free will.

 

“Dammit ! I love you. I’m in love with you, Chanyeol-ah.” His voice his so shaky. He breathes out, trying to calm himself down before he passes out of embarrassment– after confessing his feelings this way, he can’t believe he is still standing.

 

’What ?’  _H_ _uh_  ?!

 

Chanyeol does not directly understand what Baekhyun just told him. It takes a few seconds for the information to be processed in his slow-functioning brain. He doesn’t think he heard it right, he can’t believe it, but when he does realise it, he is overwhelmed with joy.

 

The next moment, Baekhyun feels two hands gently grip his shoulders and soft lips meet his.

 

Chanyeol pulls back and to Baekhyun’s annoyance  and utter embarrassment, he is harboring a satisfied grin. “Can you repeat what you just said, Baekhyunee?” Baekhyun looks shocked, his emotions going haywire at the sight of Chanyeol’s ears blushing.

 

Although they try their hardest to hide it, both do a pretty bad job at not showing their feelings. Because right now both are very embarrassed and happy.

 

“No ! Um- I mean I do like you. That’s—um, Loey is like you ! I mean you’re like Loey. He looks like you, that’s why I play this game. Because it feels like I have a boyfriend who is just like you. Because I can pretend it’s you. You can be in love with me, and I can do anything, without the risk of being rejected…” Baekhyun fidgets, “Since, you know it’s…weird to have feelings for your best friend, even if we’re both gay. »

 

He glances up to see the taller’s expression, and is right away interrupted by two hands holding his cheeks as Chanyeol moves down and kisses him once more. And a one more time. Chanyeol’s lips peck his, again and again until they get lost in these kisses. Chanyeol thinks Baekhyun is too irresistible not to be kissed to no end.

 

“I love you, Baekhyun”, Chanyeol starts. “I feel the same way.”, he reveals with a delighted grin.

 

Both boys are blushing, Chanyeol is trying to explain — which is awkward — that he too can take Baekhyun out on dates -on _real_ dates. He tells Baekhyun, that he is handsome and kisses his hands, for real. Baekhyun doesn't know what to say other than “Yeah”s and “I like you too”s.

 

Chanyeol at this moment feels ecstatic. Lucky to have Baekhyun and to be loved by him. Lucky to have such a wonderful view in front of his eyes. But he has to confirm something. He’s fidgeting and his voice makes Baekhyun’s insides melt when he softly asks, “Does this mean we’re going to date now ?” and the room feels hotter by the second. Looking down at the person who sends him the most beautiful smile he has ever seen, Baekhyun eagerly nods, he thinks he has never felt this delighted.

 

“Yes. Let’s, Yeolee. Be my boyfriend?” he asks, while resting his palms on Chanyeol’s forearms.

“Okay.” Chanyeol’s fingers comb through Baekhyun’s chestnut locks and he softly pushes his boyfriend’s hair back, toying with it and tucking his hair behind his ears. He is smiling his blinding smile, and as he caresses Baekhyun’s hair, it definitely is ‘ _all good now._ ’

They still have problems to deal with, Chanyeol thinks. But they will talk about his game addiction later...

 

 

 

 

\--

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Ding!’. His phone flashes with a notification. It’s a message.

Baekhyun is texting Sehun, who he became closer to, recently. The two were online friends from the online community before, but they found they have other hobbies in common, too.

 

Sehun

’Man, you gotta try “Workplace love” ! It’s even better than ‘Oh my gosh! King-nim?’, I swear! You’ll love it’

2:22 PM

 

Baekhyun

No thanks (:

I have a boyfriend now

2:23 PM

  
_‘Why did I waste so much time?’,_ thinks Baekhyun.

 

He recently deleted “Hot summer : Finding my true love”, along with all of his other accounts in otome games. It’s a drastic change, but Baekhyun knows too well that if he did not delete these games, he would still be spending an unreasonable amount of time on his phone. He used to play as a hobby and also because he wanted to experience having a lover. At first when he removed all of his accounts, sold his nintendo dating cards and deleted the games, he was restless. Like any other addiction, healing takes some time, there are no magical cures, but he knows that by pushing himself to go for a walk instead of being crouched at his desk is for the better. He catches up with his friends and even makes new acquaintances. With the help of Chanyeol, he gets over it. Now, he feels happier since he is now free of his addiction to games. He hasn’t deleted his “Prince of Charms” account because he has yet to say goodbye to his online friends on the forum. Ever since he was unburdened of his addiction, regaining his freedom, he has had more time to do things he really likes, like hanging out with his sweet boyfriend. He lives in the present now.

 

Sehun

Really ??

Since when O___O?

Who is it?

2:23 PM

 

He ignores his friend’s messages in favor of looking up from his phone. He will just answer him later. He smiles and shakes his head. It’s silly, but being screen free is something he, deep down, knew he would have to do to be happy. He locks and puts the device on the table. He feels a hand gently caress his cheek, before his boyfriend’s fingertips slowly push his chin to tilt his head. Turned toward his boyfriend, Baekhyun admires him.

 

“Chanyeol...?" He whispers. Chanyeol’s brown eyes are smiling, and he is looking at him with so much affection. It’s so much better than staring at a screen. He thinks he would give everything to keep this memory into his brain.

 

"Baek..." And with that, Chanyeol leans in to close the distance and kisses him. He can’t believe he held back from being with Baekhyun for so long.

 

Both of them smile into the kiss as flushes make their way to their cheeks.

It’s not summer yet, but screw Loey and his other prince charmings. Baekhyun is obsessed with his boyfriend now.

 

Fin

 


End file.
